Seyran Ohanyan and Arthur Vanetsyan Issue Statement

The leaders of the National Assembly factions 'Hayastan' and 'Pativ unerm' Seyran Ohanyan and Arthur Vanetsyan have issued a statement regarding the situation surrounding the election of the deputy chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security.

“The National Assembly faction 'Hayastan', exercising its rights under the Constitution, the 'Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly' constitutional law, and the law on 'Guarantees of Parliamentary Activity', has nominated Arthur Ghazinyan, a member of the 'Hayastan' faction and a candidate of legal sciences, for the position of deputy chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security. However, the political majority of the committee has deliberately failed the election of the deputy chairman more than ten times, using its numerical advantage. Moreover, this is being used as a pretext to disrupt the regular functioning of the committee.

It is worth noting that the chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security of the National Assembly, as well as some representatives of the ruling political force, were members of the same committee in the previous seventh convocation but did not adequately ensure parliamentary oversight as mandated by the Constitution. Due to the desire to evade responsibility and the evident conflict of interest regarding the parliamentary investigation into the circumstances of the 44-day war, they are deliberately abusing their own powers, making unfounded, unrealistic, and maliciously distorted statements.

By avoiding discussions of urgent defense and security issues facing Armenia and Artsakh, and continuously demonstrating criminal inaction, the aforementioned individuals are effectively depriving the National Assembly of the Eighth Convocation's Standing Committee on Defense and Security of the opportunity to carry out effective parliamentary oversight.

It seems that the committee chairman either lacks mastery of legislative regulations or is deliberately distorting them. Based on political expedience, they make statements that are gross violations of parliamentary ethics, and in some cases, contain elements of apparent criminal offenses.

Accordingly, in light of the current situation, the 'Hayastan' and 'Pativ unerm' factions jointly declare that:

1. The 'Hayastan' faction has exercised its right to nominate a candidate for the position of deputy chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security. All representatives of both the 'Hayastan' and 'Pativ unerm' opposition factions have voted in favor of Arthur Ghazinyan's candidacy. Therefore, there is no need to reconsider the candidacy, nor is there a requirement to re-nominate the candidate from a legal regulation perspective, regardless of the number of votes on this issue in the committee.
2. They consider the non-participation of representatives of the parliamentary opposition in committee sessions where the agenda solely concerns the selection of the deputy chairman to be a political equivalent and deterrent action, until the political majority’s behavior regarding the candidate nominated by the 'Hayastan' faction changes.
3. In these cases, the chairman's statements regarding the absence of opposition faction deputies being deemed as disrespectful are illegal, as he only has the authority to merely record the absence of deputies at a committee meeting, according to Point 11 of Article 13, Part 1 of the 'Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly' constitutional law. That is, according to Article 6, Part 1, of the Constitution, which enshrines the principle of legality, the chairman cannot determine the absence of a deputy as respectful or disrespectful.
4. They condemn the gross violations of parliamentary ethics and illegal actions by the committee chairman and some deputies of the ruling faction.
5. They will continue to apply the leverages granted to them by the Constitution and laws to reaffirm legality and restore the normal functioning of the committee.