Not Everyone in the Ministry of Defense is a Military Figure: 'Armenia' to Nominate Ghazinyan Again, Manukyan

The majority in the National Assembly recently rejected again the candidacy of Arthur Ghazinyan from the 'Armenia' faction for the position of deputy chairman of the Permanent Committee on Defense and Security. This is the second time that the committee, chaired by Andranik Kocharyan from the ruling 'Civil Contract' party, has not selected Ghazinyan.

In an interview with ArmDaily.am, Gegham Manukyan, a member of the 'Armenia' faction, stated that they have again nominated Arthur Ghazinyan, and the letter has already been sent to the Defense Committee.

When asked if they do not want to nominate another candidate, given that the lack of a deputy chairman does not affect the committee's work, and that the ruling party's MPs are against Ghazinyan's candidacy, Manukyan responded, "In fact, there is no valid reason for the rejection, as according to the regulations of the National Assembly and the Don't Act resolution, the position of deputy chairman is reserved for the opposition, and the opposition is entitled to propose a candidate within its functions, in accordance with the law."

One of the reasons the ruling party MPs have for not electing Ghazinyan is that he is far from military affairs and therefore cannot serve as the deputy chairman of that committee. Referring to this opinion, Manukyan noted that not everyone in the Ministry of Defense is a military figure.

“If we look closely at the structure of the Ministry of Defense, it will become clear that the management of the defense sector involves not only defense experts but also lawyers and people from various other professions, starting from the level of deputy ministers. You can check the positions of the deputy ministers, their biographies; everything will become clear,” said Manukyan.

For the ruling party MPs, Ghazinyan's candidacy is also unacceptable due to an incident during the parliamentary session when Ghazinyan threw bottles towards Prime Minister Pashinyan. Addressing this concern, Manukyan stated, “Mr. Ghazinyan has provided a detailed response to this; it was covered in interviews he gave 3 to 4 years ago. You can always find excuses.”