Davtyan's Appointment as Chief of Staff Poses a Major Obstacle to Kocharyan's Plans

President Armen Sarkissian yesterday did not sign the decree to appoint Artak Davtyan as Chief of Staff, a proposal made by the Prime Minister. He has a three-day period to make a decision; he must either sign the decree or send it back with objections. In either case, there will be an immediate announcement. Despite this, Nikol Pashinyan once again violated the Constitution of Armenia and hastily introduced Artak Davtyan to the General Staff.

In our country, the law is evidently upheld by everyone except those in power. The significance of Davtyan's appointment lies in the fact that there are criminal cases opened concerning arms procurement contracts during his tenure as Chief of Staff, and Patron Davit is in custody. If these contracts are illegal, and faulty weapons were supplied, then the first one to be charged should be the Chief of Staff, followed by the supplier. Thus, detaining Davit Galstyan and appointing Artak Davtyan to such a high position are incompatible.

On the other hand, Davtyan's appointment as Chief of Staff places a major impediment to Andranik Kocharyan's plans. He had intentions to enter the domain of Defense Ministry procurements, which could have been realized with Vagharshak Harutyunyan, but not under Davtyan's tenure. In one of his interviews, Davtyan explicitly stated, “Andranik Kocharyan has done everything to prevent normal, constructive work—he has tried to interfere with personnel appointments, procurements, and the decision-making process.”

Incidentally, Artak Davtyan was dismissed from the position of Chairman of the Military-Industrial Committee during the war, and the government’s propaganda machine portrayed that as a consequence of failures.

This was reported by the newspaper “Haykakan Zhamanak”.