YEREVAN (Armenpress–RFE/RL)–Director of Armenian national TV Tigran Naghdalian submitted his resignation on Monday to the board of shareholders that runs the state-owned TV–Radio and Armenpress news agency.
Previously–the pro-government Unity block issued a statement demanding the resignation of Tigran Naghdalian and Serge Sarkisian–chief of president Kocharian’s staff for "giving to much publicity and obstructing the process of investigation in the October 27 case."
It is expected that the resignation will be considered by the board of shareholders after making major changes in its composition.
There was no reaction from Prime Minister Aram Sargsyan and his political allies. Members of the Unity faction in parliament refrained from commenting on their further actions. The Unity leadership was due to meet late in the evening. One of the bloc’s leaders–Andranik Markarian–said it will be a "planned working meeting" but did not elaborate. Last week Markarian scoffed at the first presidential decree on the military–saying that Kocharian wants to demonstrate that "the army belongs to him," reported Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Naghdalian said on Tuesday that he decided to quit because it was impossible to carry out his duties under constant political pressure. He said his resignation was not a result of "discussions with or pressure from" the Kocharian administration. "This was my personal decision which I took it after assessing the situation," Naghdalian told RFE/RL.