Andranik Kocharyan on Impeachment of Pashinyan

Andranik Kocharyan, the head of the Armenia National Assembly's defense and security permanent committee from the ruling Civil Contract party, stated that the opposition will not gather the necessary 1.5 votes required to initiate impeachment proceedings against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Responding to a suggestion by Bishop Bagrat regarding the nomination of former Minister of Foreign Affairs Vardan Oskanyan as a candidate for Prime Minister, Kocharyan emphasized the importance of the will of the people.

“Bishop Bagrat, Vazgen Galstanyan are engaged in political activity, and they need to have a spiritual orientation. I will refer to him as Bishop Bagrat, you may call him Bishop Bagrat. For a spiritual figure, God’s will is also important and is always crucial for us, but the will of the people is God’s will. If Vazgen Galstanyan wishes to be nominated for Prime Minister, he should present his political team and participate in the parliamentary elections in 2026. If he wins, then he can become a candidate for Prime Minister,” Kocharyan stated.

In response to a journalist's query about whether he is ruling out the question of starting impeachment proceedings, he emphasized, “Let them come and do it.” He added, “The mentioned spiritual figure said that 20 votes are missing; where are these 20 votes? They have been here for 3.5 years, do they even see a possibility of 2.5 votes? If they see it, let them publicize it, but personally, I do not even see 1.5 votes. He names names, but it is strange that the spiritual figure mentions names without consulting with the owners of those names,” the Civil Contract party member said.

It is worth recalling that to initiate the procedure to declare impeachment against the Prime Minister of Armenia, it is necessary to submit a candidate for Prime Minister and gather 36 signatures within 24 hours of receiving the application. The opposition factions 'Armenia' and 'I Have Honor' have 35 deputies, meaning they need to either recruit one from the ruling party or receive the support of the only independent deputy, Ishkhan Zakaryan. Yet, no discussions have taken place with him yet.

After gathering the signatures, a vote must be called within 48-72 hours. A minimum of 54 votes is needed for impeachment, meaning the opposition requires additional support from 18 deputies.