Armenian President Has 1 Day to Act, Otherwise Onik Gasparyan Will Be Considered Dismissed

The President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, has just 1 day left to submit Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's proposal to dismiss the Chief of the General Staff, Onik Gasparyan, to the Constitutional Court, reports Yerkir.am.

If this 1 day passes and the President does not submit the proposal, Onik Gasparyan will be deemed officially dismissed.

Constitutional expert Vardan Aivazyan, elaborating on the procedural laws, stated that regardless of whether the President submits the law on "Military Service and the Status of Military Personnel" to the Constitutional Court or not, it does not affect the process of dismissing the Chief of Staff.

"This law has nothing to do with the Prime Minister's proposal. The course and fate of this law are completely separate from the existing dispute. Once the President receives the objections from the Prime Minister, he has 3 days to act. If he does not refer to the Constitutional Court within that time frame, the Chief of Staff will be considered dismissed. As he himself said, 'I will not sign'; that is a fairy tale, because no one will ask anymore whether you will sign or not; by legal force, the Prime Minister’s proposal comes into effect, and the Chief of Staff is considered dismissed," said the constitutional expert.

However, he did not want to approach the issue with a presumption of guilt, as there is still 1 day left before the three-day deadline expires on Wednesday, and he maintains a faint hope that the President will refer the question of the Prime Minister's proposal's constitutionality to the Constitutional Court on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, another law, "Military Service and the Status of Military Personnel," which the President sent to the Constitutional Court today, pertains to the grounds for dismissal. Although the President's statement does not specify which clause of the law is to be examined for its constitutionality, there is an opinion that the discussions relate to an amendment made in 2018 that stipulates: "The dismissal of military personnel in the highest command may be carried out regardless of whether the grounds specified in part 1 of this article are present or not."

Vardan Aivazyan points out that there is currently no legal basis for the Prime Minister to dismiss the Chief of Staff.

"This absurdity that military personnel in the highest command can be dismissed without grounds has made these positions political with that law amendment," he commented.

Theoretically, even if the Constitutional Court rules this amendment unconstitutional months later and determines that the Prime Minister could not dismiss the Chief of Staff without the legally specified grounds, the train has already left.

Legal expert Siranuysh Sahakyan noted that even if the mentioned law is deemed unconstitutional, the act of dismissing the Chief of Staff would not be subject to review, as it is an administrative act, meaning that Onik Gasparyan will not be restored to his position.

"This has given absolute discretion, and the personnel in the highest command are not protected from arbitrary decisions," emphasized Siranuysh Sahakyan.

Vardan Aivazyan is also confident that it will be premature and will not help in preventing the Chief of Staff from being dismissed. "If they are dismissed now, arrested, their heads are eaten, what is the point? This is just smoke and mirrors," he said.

Thus, after receiving the President’s objections, the Prime Minister must either consider the President's objections and remove the grounds he mentioned or insist again. Currently, the Prime Minister has reaffirmed his proposal to dismiss the Chief of Staff without considering the President's objections. If he insists again, the President must either refer to the Constitutional Court or agree with the Prime Minister. In other words, if he does not refer to the Constitutional Court, any action or inaction will mean that he agrees with the Prime Minister, and by legal force, the Prime Minister's proposal to dismiss the Chief of Staff will come into effect.

There is still one day left; let us wait to see if the President of Armenia will send the Prime Minister's proposal to dismiss the Chief of Staff to the Constitutional Court as well.