Mr. Kocharyan was not the embodiment of ethics: Arusyak Julhakyan

There will be no ethics commission to examine the conduct of Andranik Kocharyan, a member of the "Civil Contract" faction. The permanent commission on state-legal issues of the RA National Assembly gave a negative conclusion on the proposal put forward by the "Honorary" and "Armenia" factions.

The members from the pro-government faction voted against it, stating that there have previously been deputies who exhibited unethical behavior, and it is unclear why an investigation is being initiated specifically regarding Kocharyan's case.

“There have been numerous instances where both government and opposition members have demonstrated behavior that is at least an apparent violation of ethical norms. In any case, we have never established a commission, because we believe that if the National Assembly considers creating a temporary commission on a matter, it implies that the violation has indeed occurred. We considered it an unnecessary politicization of the issue. Since it has not yet been established, I think it is safe to say that Mr. Kocharyan was not the embodiment of ethics,” said commission member Arusyak Julhakyan.

At the same time, deputies emphasized the importance of establishing a permanent ethics commission. The chairman of the permanent commission on state-legal issues, Vladimir Vardanyan, responding to Taguhi Tovmasyan's observation that the commission would have no retroactive force and would not be able to assess Kocharyan's behavior, noted that if a deputy's behavior is not merely a slip or a one-time incident, sooner or later, the matter will be raised in the permanent commission's discussions.

Vardanyan stated that he had thought for a long time about forming a temporary commission, but he does not consider it appropriate. “Let’s be honest, this would be a commission of the majority. In this case, either the opposition will complain or vice versa. We need clear regulations, and the members of the commission should possess high ethical standards along with skills, including legal assessment, and must demonstrate impartiality, rising above party interests,” said Vardanyan, emphasizing that a majority commission would always be an inquisitorial commission against the opposition. He stressed that by the end of the session, there will be a project on establishing a permanently operating ethics commission.