ArmInfo.Disputes and contradictions flare up in the newly elected Armenian parliament. This time, the office of the third deputy speaker of the National Assembly has become the apple of discord.
Both political forces - Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and Bright Armenia (BA), which position themselves as opposition, expressed a desire to nominate their candidate for the post. And each of them assures that it is their candidate who will be the most competent and worthy deputy speaker.
So, before the solemn ceremony of presenting the mandates to the lawmakers of the new parliament, Spokesman for the head of the PAP Gagik Tsarukyan, MP Iveta Tonoyan said in an interview with journalists, that as the PPA is the second largest force in the newly elected parliament, it will definitely run for the post. "In the near future, the party will officially publicize the name of its candidate. We have many worthy candidates. In particular, the candidatures of Naira Zohrabyan, Vahe Enfiajyan, Mikayel Melkumyan, etc. are being discussed," the MP said.
In turn, the head of the Bright Armenia party, Edmon Marukyan, believes that the candidate for the post of deputy speaker of the PA should be no less, and perhaps even more competent, than the candidate of the PAP. As for how the Bright Armenia will position itself in the new parliament, Marukyan stated that they will definitely be the opposition. As for the cooperation of the Bright Armenia with the PAP, then according to Marukyan, "if the PAP will also position itself as an opposition, then we will look at the results of its activities." In general, the lawmaker did not rule out the possibility of cooperation with all political forces with which they will come to a consensus.
Acting Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, newly elected MP Ararat Mirzoyan also did not avoid the question of electing a candidate for the post of deputy speaker. He noted that representatives of the "My Step" party have no right to violate the will of the people. "We will vote for the candidate from the Prosperous Armenia faction as they gained a greater number of votes. It is clear that our colleagues from Bright Armenia are dissatisfied with this fact, but we do not consider ourselves entitled to dictate our will to the people," Mirzoyan said.
He also touched upon the question of how representatives of the new parliament intend to vote on the law "On the structure of the government." In particular, the Acting Deputy Prime Minister noted that when the draft law is finally developed, it will be possible to express our position. To the remark that under the law currently in force, the security forces (the Police and the National Security Service) are personally subordinate to the Prime Minister, and being an opposition member Mirzoyan himself criticized this law, the Deputy Prime Minister said: "I put forward certain proposals in connection with this law, in which I expressed all my thoughts and views. As for me personally, I think that the National Security Service should obey the Prime Minister, and as regards the Police, this issue should be discussed in more detail, "he stressed.
To note, a solemn ceremony of presenting the mandates to the lawmakers of the new parliament took place today. The first meeting of the National Assembly of the seventh convocation will be held on January 14 at 10:00am. 132 MPs, 88 lawmakers from the "My Step" bloc, 26 from the Prosperous Armenia party and 18 from the Bright Armenia party will work in the new parliament.