YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENPRESS. A Member of Parliament is under a bribery-related criminal investigation, acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at parliamentary debates today.

Today is the first round of election of a prime minister after Pashinyan’s resignation, and Pashinyan himself is the sole candidate. His candidacy is a formality and MPs are expected to vote him down in order to dissolve the parliament and call early elections.

“There is case against a Member of Parliament, a case that is already 100% proven, and it is already two months that we are waiting for an official response from another country to a document that we have in our hands. On the very day that it happens [ response], there will be an initiative regarding arresting this lawmaker, this is a bribery case,” Pashinyan said, without specifying who the MP is.

He added that they aren’t receiving this document for some reasons and the process is being delayed.

“Our embassy is working a bit poorly, I don’t know, perhaps there are some ties with that country, they are delaying it all the time. All right, maybe they will delay it for another week, another month, but there is no option, this lawmaker will be arrested, and this will be the largest bribery case in the history of the third republic, which will lead with its threads after other high ranking officials,” he said.

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced from the parliament floor that his nomination as a candidate for prime minister in the first round of election today is a formality. He emphasized that he has been nominated not for re-election, but for being not elected.

“Therefore, the National Assembly today shouldn’t vote in favor of me. And the meaning of being nominated is not to leave space for any manipulations around the legitimacy of the upcoming parliamentary elections. At this moment I can note that it is definite and undoubted that we will have early elections of parliament in this December, elections which eventually must become the final destination of the Armenian 2018 non violent, velvet, democratic revolution’s final victory,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan tendered a technical resignation October 16 in order to trigger the process of disbanding the parliament and holding early elections.

Under the law, if a prime minister resigns lawmakers must elect a new PM within two weeks. If MPs fail to elect a PM during the first vote, a second round takes place a week later.

Prior to the vote, parliamentary factions must nominate candidates for the election. All factions agreed that they wouldn’t nominate anyone in order to pave way for dissolution. But the Yelk faction nominated incumbent Nikol Pashinyan in a technical maneuver because the Constitution says that a “vote” must take place. Lawmakers are expected to deliberately vote down Pashinyan in order to fail the election and head for eventual dissolution, and early elections.

Pashinyan took office after massive protests in April forced president-turned PM Serzh Sargsyan to resign. But Sargsyan’s Republican Party (HHK) still has most seats in parliament. Since taking office, PM Nikol Pashinyan has numerously said that the incumbent parliament doesn’t represent the people and that early elections should take place as soon as possible.

Below is an excerpt from Article 149 of the Constitution of Armenia on Election and Appointment of the Prime Minister:

“In case the Prime Minister submits a resignation or in other cases of the office of the Prime Minister becoming vacant, the factions of the National Assembly shall be entitled to nominate candidates for Prime Minister within a period of seven days after accepting the resignation of the Government. The National Assembly shall elect the Prime Minister by majority of votes of the total number of Deputies [Members of Parliament].
In case Prime Minister is not elected, a new election of Prime Minister shall be held seven days after voting, wherein the candidates for Prime Minister nominated by at least one third of the total number of Deputies shall be entitled to participate. In case Prime Minister is not elected by majority of votes of the total number of Deputies, the National Assembly shall be dissolved by virtue of law”.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan