Silent MPs of the 7th Convocation of the National Assembly: Data Released

During nearly one year of activity of the 7th convocation of the National Assembly, out of 132 MPs, 19 have not asked questions or made speeches. Among the "silent" MPs, 11 are from the "My Step" faction, 7 from the "Prosperous Armenia" faction, and 1 from the "Bright Armenia" faction. This information has been reported by Tert.am.

Recall that the extraordinary parliamentary elections took place on December 9, 2018, and the newly elected Assembly held its first session on January 14, 2019. The 3rd session of the 7th convocation is set to conclude on December 20, 2019, and the 4th session will begin on January 20, 2020. Thus, there are only 10 days left until the completion of the Assembly's first year of work.

Out of the 88 MPs in the "My Step" faction, 11 have not made speeches or asked questions:

• 1 - Vardan Atabekyan – 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 2 - Matevos Asatryan - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 3 - Gor Gevorgyan – 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 4 - Sedrak Tevonyan - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 5 - Yerjanik Hakobyan - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 6 - Vahe Ghalumyan - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 7 - Arsen Mikhaylov - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 8 - Artashes Petrosyan - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 9 - Karen Sarukhanyan - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 10 - Hakob Simidian (Secretary of the faction) - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 11 - Andranik Kocharyan – 0 questions, 0 speeches

From the 26 MPs in the "Prosperous Armenia" faction, 7 have also not made speeches or asked questions:

• 1 - Arayik Aghababyan – 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 2 - Edward Babayan – 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 3 - Kajik Gevorgyan - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 4 - Janibek Hayrapetyan - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 5 - Davit Manukyan - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 6 - Sogomon Sogomonian - 0 questions, 0 speeches
• 7 - Tigran Stepanyan - 0 questions, 0 speeches

From the 18 MPs in the "Bright Armenia" faction, 1 MP has not made speeches or asked questions:

• 1 - Rubik Stepanyan – 0 questions, 0 speeches

The number of MPs who have made 1 or 2 speeches or asked questions is also quite significant. Once again, the leaders in inactivity are the MPs from the "My Step" faction. Throughout the year, 16 MPs from "My Step" have made 1 or 2 speeches or asked questions, while 4 MPs each from Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia have done the same.

In the "My Step" faction:

• Alexander Avetisyan (2 questions, 0 speeches)
• Rustam Bakoyan (2 questions, 0 speeches)
• Arman Boshyan (1 question, 0 speeches)
• Tatevik Gasparyan (1 question, 0 speeches)
• Hripsime Grigoryan (2 questions, 0 speeches)
• Hrachya Hakobyan (1 question, 1 speech)
• Knyaz Hasanov (1 question, 0 speeches)
• Vahe Hovhannisyan (2 questions, 0 speeches)
• Argishti Mekhakyan (0 questions, 1 speech)
• Armen Mkrtchyan (1 question, 1 speech)
• Koryun Mkrtchyan (2 questions, 0 speeches)
• Sergey Movsisyan (1 question, 1 speech)
• Lenna Nazaryan (0 questions, 2 speeches)
• Alexey Sandikov (1 question, 0 speeches)
• Sipan Pashinyan (1 question, 1 speech)

In the "Prosperous Armenia" faction:

• Nora Arustamyan (1 question, 0 speeches)
• Arthur Dallakyan (0 questions, 2 speeches)
• Gagik Tsarukyan (0 questions, 1 speech)
• Vardan Ghukasyan (1 question, 1 speech)

In the "Bright Armenia" faction:

• Sargis Aleksanyan (1 question, 0 speeches)
• Hrant Ayvazyan (2 questions, 0 speeches)
• Edward Andreasyan (1 question, 0 speeches)
• Babayan Harutyun (1 question, 0 speeches)
• Serik Minasian (1 question, 0 speeches)

The MP who has asked the most questions and made the most speeches in the National Assembly of the 7th convocation is Mikhail Melkumyan from the "Prosperous Armenia" faction. He has asked 124 questions and made speeches during the Assembly sessions. The second most active MP is also from the "Prosperous Armenia" faction, Sergey Bagratyan, with 77 questions and speeches. The third is Artak Manukyan from "My Step" with 62 questions and speeches, the fourth is Arman Abovyan from "Prosperous Armenia", and the fifth is Suren Grigoryan from "My Step" with 54 and 39 questions and speeches, respectively.

Among the MPs, the one with the highest number of absences is Ruben Rubinyan from the "My Step" faction, with 179 absences. The second most absent MP is Edmon Marukyan, the leader of the "Bright Armenia" faction, with 172 absences, followed by Lena Nazaryan, the Vice-President of the National Assembly from "My Step", with 169 absences. The top five with absences is rounded out by Vardan Ghukasyan from "Prosperous Armenia" with 156 absences and Gayane Abrahamyan from "My Step" with 151 absences.

According to the law on the State Budget for 2018, the basic salary of public officials is 66,140 AMD. The calculation factor for the salary of an MP is 10, thus their monthly salary amounts to 661,400 AMD, including taxes. After taxation, the so-called "net" salary of an MP is approximately 470,000 AMD. As is known, besides the salary, MPs also receive a bonus of 30 percent of their salary, amounting to 198,420 AMD. If we subtract the taxes from this bonus, which is 55,557 AMD, the final amount is 142,863 AMD. Hence, many of the "silent" MPs receive a salary and bonus totaling 612,000 AMD from the state budget for their inactivity.