Opposition wants higher oversight on PM, FM with bill seeking regular classified security reports to lawmakers

YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS. The opposition Pativ Unem bloc of the Armenian parliament is seeking to stipulate by law that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs present periodical reports to parliament regarding foreign policy, negotiations and security affairs.

Pativ Unem lawmaker Hayk Mamijanyan introduced the respective bill on amending the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly during parliamentary hearings.

He argued that the purpose of the bill is to avoid parliament being sidelined during the decision-making of priority negotiations issues.

Mamijanyan explained that their bill seeks to establish that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister will file a classified report on strategic matters to parliament every 6 and 3 months respectively. After receiving the reports, lawmakers will be entitled to summon the PM and FM for a closed-format hearing if 25% of the total number of lawmakers seek to do so.