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The opposition Hayastan (Armenia) and With Honor parliamentary factions will not take part in the election of Armenia’s new president to be held in March, they said in a joint statement on Friday.

The statement, shared by the Hayastan bloc on Facebook, says that the opposition does not consider it appropriate to participate in the legitimization of the election, even “indirectly”.

"We have discussed the appropriateness of nominating a candidate, but in the current situation we consider it unacceptable and wrong to participate in the election," they said.

The opposition highlights that the country's Constitution requires that the president be impartial and be guided by national interests.

Moreover, at a time when Armenia is facing serious internal and external challenges, there is no alternative to national unity and public solidarity.

“However, the authorities, who brought the country to the brink of ruin and split the society, continue to work in the same spirit, guided not by the state, but by narrow corporate interests,” the factions said.

“Although the presidential institution should act as a truly neutral institution consolidating the society, the incumbent authorities have decided to nominate and elect a president representing only the ruling political team.

“The international community remains silent and inactive amid the obvious retreat from democracy, including the formation of a one-man dictatorship,” reads the statement.

The ruling Civil Contract party has nominated Minister of High-Tech Industry Vahagn Khachaturyan as its presidential candidate.