Artsakh parliament elects speaker 

ArmInfo.  The Artsakh Parliament elected a new speaker at an extraordinary session. Instead of David Ishkhanyan, who is in a Baku prison, the Artsakh parliament will be  headed by Ashot Danielyan. This was reported by Artsakh NA MP Metakse  Hakobyan.

According to her, Ashot Danielyan, representing the Free Homeland-ORS  faction, was unanimously elected speaker of the parliament at the  session held on May 21. 28 MPs participated in it.

As Hakobyan reported, the term of office of the President of Artsakh  expired on May 21. "According to the Constitution of Artsakh, his  powers are transferred to the Chairman of the Parliament until the  election of a new president. Since the current Speaker of the  National Assembly David Ishkhanyan is in Azerbaijani captivity, there  was a need to urgently elect a new speaker, the MP noted in an  interview with Armenia Today. 

At the same time, according to the Constitution of Artsakh, if for  any reason a meeting of the new parliament is not held, the current  composition of the National Assembly continues to work until the  first session of the parliament of the new convocation. Hakobyan  explained that another factor that led to the election of a new head  of the National Assembly was that Ishkhanyan could not fulfill his  duties due to his captivity. "As a result, the Artsakh Parliament, as  a legitimate body, cannot carry out its activities or hold meetings,"  she added. The MP called the election of the speaker "a vital  necessity." She noted that the new speaker will be able to raise the  problems of the people of Artsakh, try to find solutions to them, and  also take steps to return the people of Artsakh to Artsakh.