Edmon Marukyan Urges Prime Minister to Dismiss Certain Advisors

The leader of the "Enlightened Armenia" faction, Edmon Marukyan, wrote on his Facebook page regarding the constitutionality of the government’s current structure.

He stated, "In general, the formation of the government, unlike other bodies of the executive power of the Republic of Armenia, stands out with its unique procedure. The initiation of the government formation begins after the appointment of the Prime Minister, and subsequently continues with the appointment of ministers.

I believe that there has been a violation of the procedure for the formation of the government, namely Article 150 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. This article establishes a clear procedure for forming the government, according to which the Prime Minister, within five days after his appointment, must propose candidates for the Vice Prime Ministers and Ministers to the President of the Republic. Naturally, this refers to the presentation of candidates for all ministries as government members, as stipulated by law.

The Prime Minister has not presented candidates for all ministers, and the President of the Republic has only appointed those whom the Prime Minister proposed.

According to Article 2 of the Law on the Structure and Functioning of the Government, the Government consists of the Prime Minister, the First Deputy Prime Minister, two Deputy Prime Ministers, and Ministers.

The following ministries are included in the structure of the Government:

1. Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs,
2. Ministry of Health,
3. Ministry of Justice,
4. Ministry of Emergency Situations,
5. Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
6. Ministry of Environment,
7. Ministry of Agriculture,
8. Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources,
9. Ministry of Education and Science,
10. Ministry of Culture,
11. Ministry of Defense,
12. Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs,
13. Ministry of Diaspora,
14. Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development,
15. Ministry of Economic Development and Investments,
16. Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies,
17. Ministry of Finance.

However, the Prime Minister has presented candidates for only 2 vice premiers and 12 ministers. This means that candidates for five ministers have not been presented, leaving certain ministries without heads. However, these ministries and ministerial positions are defined by the aforementioned law, which is currently in force, and there is no other law that mandates otherwise. At the moment, there is not even an initiative for legislative change regarding the structure and functioning of the Government.

It can only be inferred that the Prime Minister has been misled by his legal advisors, which caused him to rely on part 9 of Article 3 of the Law on the Structure and Functioning of the Government, which defines the guarantee for ensuring the normal functioning of the government.

According to this provision, the government is considered formed if at least 2/3 of its members have been appointed. This provision regulates an entirely different relationship, having no connection to the constitutional obligation of the Government’s composition being presented to the President of the Republic. It exclusively relates to cases when the President of the Republic has approached the Constitutional Court regarding the challenge of the candidates proposed by the Prime Minister. And the Constitutional Court saw no issue with the candidates representing at least 2/3, while others were found incompatible for those positions, or their candidacies are still under discussion.

This provision is solely a guarantee clause, the purpose of which is to ensure the normal functioning of the government to avoid a constitutional crisis, rather than granting the Prime Minister the right to present fewer candidates for ministers than required within the five-day deadline. Based on the above, it should be stated that the Prime Minister has failed to fulfill his direct obligation imposed by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, which has resulted in a violation of the requirements of Article 150 of the Constitution.

I urge the Prime Minister to firstly dismiss those advisors who have erroneously interpreted the solution to this issue. Additionally, he should immediately present a draft law on the Structure and Functioning of the Government to the National Assembly that reflects the new structure of the government, ensures no ministries are left without ministers, and includes the NSS, police, and tax authority in its structure."