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Candidate for Armenia’s New Ombudsman to Be Chosen by State and Legal Affairs Committee

With 89 votes in favor, Armenia's National Assembly today adopted a decision authorizing the Standing Parliamentary Committee on State and Legal Affairs to nominate the next candidate for the post of Armenia's Human Rights Defender. 16 MPs voted against the decision, while 6 abstained. 

The Committee, where ruling Republican Party representatives comprise 50% of the total number of 12 members, is to advance a single nominee, leaving for the Parliament to either approve or reject the candidate.

Opposition lawmakers, meanwhile, spoke out against the decision. Heritage faction MP Zaruhi Postanjyan, namely, stated before the vote that the new order would lead the National Assembly to act contrary to fundamental democratic principles. “The Committee's sole candidate for the post of the Ombudsman would leave no alternative options for the Parliament. There would be no competition, and [MPs] will be unable to make a choice among multiple candidates,” Postanjyan said.

Prosperous Armenia faction representative Tigran Urikhanyan, for his part, brought to his colleagues' attention the Republican Party's majority at the National Assembly, claiming that “the Committee's candidate will be approved no matter what.”

“I call on my fellow oppositionists to mobilize their forces to ensure consolidation within the Committee and bring that consolidation to the National Assembly,” the MP added.