ArmInfo. Arman Ghukasyan, chairman of the party "For Social Justice", and Tsovinar Kostanyan, deputy chairperson of the party, made a statement saying that in connection with the appointment of Stepa Safaryan as the head of the Public Council of Armenia, they are leaving the Public Council's Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Commission.
The party's statement to ArmInfo, in particular, states: "Last week, it became known that the Armenian government approved Stepan Safaryan as head of the Public Council. Daniel Ionnisyan was also accepted to the council shortly before. Obviously, the current government has shifted from policy of ignoring the Public Council to its complete reformatting. "Apparently, the government intends to present civil society in our country with a group of public organizations that have pro-Western reputation, and even implement their projects with direct financial support and in the interests of the United States and the European Union. These are the Armenian Institute of International Relations and Security and the Union of Informed Citizens headed by Safaryan and Ioannisyan. In our opinion, the Public Council should be headed by a neutral figure that would be acceptable for various segments of the Armenian civil society, but not Stepan Safaryan in any way. By appointing such people on responsible positions, who constantly voice provocations against key strategic military and political ally of Armenia - the Russian Federation, as well as integration within the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia may harm international interests. We, as members of the commission on science, education, culture, youth and sports of the Public Council, regretfully declare that after consultations with members of the same party, we decided to leave the commission. We are always ready to work for the benefit of Armenia, but we do not believe that the current processes around the Public Council are in line with our ideas about this good, "the statement said.
It should be reminded that on December 19, the Government of Armenia, at the suggestion of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, approved the director of the Armenian Institute of International Affairs and Security Stepa Safaryan as head of the Public Council of Armenia. The post of head of the Council has been vacant since November 13, when Vazgen Manukyan left it. The latter headed the Council on May 30, 2009. His term would expire in April next year.
Earlier, the National Assembly lawmaker Arman Babajanyan demanded that Vazgen Manukyan be dismissed by sending a letter to the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. According to him, the reason for this was the fact that during a conversation with Nairi Hunanyan, who was serving a life sentence for a terrorist attack in parliament on October 27, 1999, there were several references to the name of Vazgen Manukyan. Manukyan, for his part, openly stated that although he was familiar with Hunanyan at the beginning of the Karabakh movement, he did not maintain any ties with him in the future.
In early November, commenting on rumors about the possible resignation of Vazgen Manukyan, the deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament, Alen Simonyan, said that the Public Council is a useless structure, and then, in an interview with reporters, confirming this idea, he noted that it would be great if Vazgen Manukyan himself realized the situation and resigned.