The ‘Armenia’ and ‘I Have Honor’ Factions Issue a Joint Statement

The ‘Armenia’ and ‘I Have Honor’ factions of the National Assembly have issued a joint statement. During the extraordinary meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defense and Security held on December 21, 2021, deputies representing the ruling Civil Contract faction, led by the chairman of the committee, announced that the right to nominate a candidate for the position of deputy chairman of the same committee has allegedly passed to the Civil Contract. However, they stated that they are 'magnanimously' waiting for the opposition to present an acceptable candidate through consultations with them.

For the information of the Committee Chairman Andranik Kocharyan, we inform you that according to Article 138 of the Constitutional Law on the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, the right to nominate a candidate for the position of deputy chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security belongs to the ‘Armenia’ faction. This right to propose a candidate is retained until the National Assembly's powers are exhausted.

The deputy chairman of the committee is elected upon the submission of the leader or secretary of the authorized faction, by the decision of the committee. The election of the deputy chairman of the committee shall be conducted within five working days after the composition of the committee is validated and also after the position is vacated.

The right of the faction to propose a candidate for the position of deputy chairman passes to the ruling force if the faction does not nominate a candidate for the vacant position within the time limit specified by the Rules of Procedure.

In accordance with the requirements established by Articles 8 and 9 of the ‘Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly’ Constitutional Law and the referenced article, the ‘Armenia’ faction has submitted a candidate after the formation of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security and has not waived this right. According to the National Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, the ‘Armenia’ faction is not obligated to continually confirm in writing its nomination (the candidacy of A. Ghazinyan).

On November 30 of this year, the ‘Armenia’ and ‘I Have Honor’ factions reaffirmed their unwavering decision to support the candidacy of A. Ghazinyan in the statement adopted jointly with the National Assembly.

To summarize, we note that the Civil Contract faction is grossly violating the requirements of the National Assembly's Rules of Procedure and is overtly attempting to usurp the position of deputy chairman of the committee. Even under such conditions of the deputy chairman's status, the political power demonstrates its anti-democratic, illegal, and intolerant nature.

‘Armenia’ Faction
‘I Have Honor’ Faction