Local self-defense forces to be formed in Armenia

ArmInfo. In Armenia, the militia system will be replaced by local self-defense forces. The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia is discussing the  amendments to the Law on Defense and a package of related acts  submitted by the Government of the Republic of Armenia in the second  and final reading at the plenary session on February 11.

According to Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia  Arman Sargsyan, no proposals were received from the deputies for the  second reading regarding the submitted package; the Government of the  Republic of Armenia only made one amendment, which is of a technical  nature and does not affect the content of the documents.

The Deputy Minister noted that the package establishes provisions  concerning the role of local self-defense forces, principles of  leadership, structure, and recruitment procedures. The general  leadership of local self- defense forces, which will perform the  functions of forces assisting the army, will be carried out by the  commander of the army corps. Local forces will be formed on a  voluntary basis, at the expense of citizens registered in communities  who are in the second reserve group. Corresponding agreements will be  concluded with them. The package also sets out the conditions for  training representatives of local self- defense forces. According to  the legislative changes, territorial militia structures will be  liquidated, and the militia members themselves will be able to  voluntarily transfer to local self-defense systems. Recruitment to  the ranks of local forces can also be carried out at the expense of  persons who have exhausted the age resource of the reserve for  conscription into the armed forces.

In this regard, the National Assembly deputy from the opposition  faction "Armenia" Gegham Manukyan drew attention to the fact that the  package has been discussed for quite a long time. There were working  discussions, the bills passed the first reading. Nevertheless, the  faction will abstain from adopting the package during the vote for a  number of reasons. First of all, it should be noted that, in essence,  the militia system has not been implemented. Against this background,  there is no certainty that local self-defense forces will really find  their niche. In addition, as Gegham Manukyan noted, a number of  provisions of the Concept for the Creation of Local Self-Defense  Systems have not been implemented, and for this reason the faction  will abstain during the vote.