Letter from the Speaker of the National Assembly to Gagik Tsarukyan

The Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, has sent a letter to Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the Prosperous Armenia faction.

Below is the letter:

“Dear Mr. Tsarukyan,

During the discussions on April 19, 2019, regarding the package of bills on amendments to the Law of the Republic of Armenia on State Duties and the Law on Notification of Activity Implementation, your statements during your speech and subsequent interviews with the press have raised justified concerns and reasonable doubts among our colleagues in the National Assembly, extra-parliamentary political forces, civil society representatives, and the wider public regarding your engagement in entrepreneurial activities. As you know, the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Armenia prohibit a member of the National Assembly from engaging in entrepreneurial activities personally.

The issue has drawn the attention of law enforcement agencies, and I have received a proposal to form an ethics committee within the National Assembly to examine the issue. Noting that existing legal regulations provide broad political discretion regarding the establishment and functioning of this ethics committee and may lead to various speculations, as well as the fact that the initiative to establish such a committee falls outside the speaker's authority, I still believe that you should at least provide comprehensive public clarifications regarding the issue.

I also draw your attention to Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia on Guarantees of Activities of Members of the National Assembly, according to which a member of the Assembly must not act based on their own personal interests or those of related parties while exercising their powers and must not use the authority of their position in favor of themselves or others. I urge you to be more vigilant and attentive in following the regulations concerning conflict of interest situations established by Article 4 of the same law.

I also find it appropriate to mention that the political, legal, and economic processes that have unfolded in our country over the past year eliminate the necessity for even concealed mechanisms to sponsor personal business interests through political roles, where de jure a member of parliament could allegedly transfer their enterprise to fiduciary management while in fact continuing to manage it directly.

On the contrary, all necessary legal conditions have been created for political and entrepreneurial activities to finally be separated from each other, allowing citizens to freely engage in the preferred type of activity among those options.

Moreover, I believe that this institutional approach, not conditioned by any specific person or actor, should serve as a guideline for upcoming legal processes, finding its development and legal clarification in relevant laws.

Respectfully, Ararat Mirzoyan”

It is worth reminding that the Citizen's Decision party has approached the prosecutor's office and the Speaker of the National Assembly, urging them to raise the issue of terminating the parliamentary powers of Gagik Tsarukyan. Later, Lilit Makunts, the head of the My Step faction, stated that the Speaker would make a statement regarding this matter.