YEREVAN, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. First President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who was in office 1991-1998, has released an article on iLur.am, emphasizing the right of a Member of Parliament on not being constrained by his/her imperative mandate and to be guided by his/her conscience and convictions. The publication is titled A little But Important Observation.

“Although what I am about to say might seem trivial in the context of the ongoing surge in Armenia, I can’t not draw attention on the following fact. Article 94 of the Armenian Constitution stipulates: “A lawmaker represents the entire people, isn’t constrained with imperative mandate, is guided by conscience and convictions”.

Levon Ter Petrosyan argues that as the international community is insisting all the time these days, the most important in the process of forming a government is its compliance with the constitution and the letter of the law.

“However even without the hinting of the international community it is obvious in itself that it is in the interests of both the government, the opposition and Armenia. The legitimacy of a government formed in another way will not be acknowledged neither by the people, nor the international community. While we, for many decades, are witnessing what kind of threats this reality is creating in the issue of ensuring the country’s stability and domestic solidarity,” Ter-Petrosyan says.

The second round of the election for Prime Minister will take place May 8, at 12:00 in the Armenian parliament, Speaker Ara Babloyan said in a statement.

After nearly 9 hours of debates on electing a Prime Minister on May 1, with opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan being the sole candidate, the Armenian parliament failed to make the election as 56 lawmakers voted against and 45 lawmakers voted in favor.

Pashinyan was nominated by the opposition Yelk faction.

Two other factions – Tsarukyan and the ARF – have endorsed the opposition MPs candidacy.

Pashinyan needed at least 53 votes to be elected Prime Minister.

There are 4 factions in the Armenian parliament. The Republican Party (HHK) faction, the ruling party of Armenia, has 58 seats in the 105-seat unicameral parliament of Armenia – known as the National Assembly.  The ARF faction – (Armenian Revolutionary Federation aka Dashnaktsutyun), has 7 seats. The Tsarukyan alliance has 31 seats, and the Yelk faction has 9 seats. 

According to the Constitution, in case of failure to elect a Prime Minister in the parliament, a second round of election is held seven days later. In the second round, candidates nominated by at least one third of the total number of MPs are entitled to participate in the election. If a Prime Minister isn’t elected in the second round also, the parliament is dissolved by virtue of law.

Thus, Yelk faction will need the endorsement of Tsarukyan faction again to nominate Pashinyan for the second round.

English –translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan