It Turns Out We Divide Ambassadors Into Two Categories: Pashinyan on Changing the Appointment Process

The government approved the draft law on making amendments and additions to the "Law on Diplomatic Service" during its meeting today, June 20. The authors of the draft are Ruben Rubinyan, a member of the "My Step" faction, and Arman Babajanyan from the "Bright Armenia" party.

The issue was presented by Deputy Foreign Minister Grigor Hovhannisyan, who noted that the provisions proposed in the draft are acceptable for them.

"The discussion is about the procedure for appointing ambassadors. In particular, it is proposed to limit the number of political appointments to 15 percent of the total number of ambassadors, while for career ambassadors, 15 years of work experience is proposed as a mandatory requirement. We suggest 10 years. Additionally, in the case of political appointments, the National Assembly is given the right to provide consultative opinions," stated Hovhannisyan.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan inquired how this process occurs in practice: "Let’s imagine, in a confidentiality mode, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides a proposal, the Prime Minister gives consent in a confidentiality mode. Then they apply to the accrediting party, after that the agreement comes, and then what happens? At which stage does the National Assembly committee become aware? It turns out that the Prime Minister must inform the committee about his intentions," said the Prime Minister, adding that questions may also arise when appointing someone with 10 years of experience as an ambassador.

Deputy Foreign Minister Grigor Hovhannisyan noted, "By reducing the number of political appointments, we allow the government to make 7-8 political appointments." Pashinyan responded, "Who are you to give that opportunity? It feels like we should be thanking you for giving the government that opportunity." Pashinyan also mentioned that it appears that if, for example, a person has been a member of the Armenian delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for 15 years, we tell him he needs to go to the National Assembly committee for an opinion about him, while someone who has worked for 10 years at a diplomatic mission, for instance as an attaché, has no questions from the committee. This indicates a discriminatory approach, which is unacceptable. If we are going through a parliamentary filter, then everyone should pass, otherwise it seems we are initially dividing ambassadors into two categories.

In conclusion, it was decided that the issue should be discussed once again, although a decision was made.