The Board of the ruling "Civil Contract" Party in Armenia has determined the candidates for the chairpersons of the 12 permanent committees of the National Assembly. The list includes individuals known for their closeness to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and deputies who have come to the fore with scandals.
Modern.az reports that Nazeli Baghdasaryan has been nominated for the social affairs committee, Lusine Badalyan for the health committee, Trdat Sargsyan for the regional and Eurasian integration committee, and Sona Ghazaryan for the European integration committee.
Zaruhi Batoyan has been nominated for the human rights committee, and Vilen Gabrielyan for the defense and security committee. Gabrielyan won against Armen Khachatryan and Sasun Mikaelyan for this position. He had previously caused widespread discussions due to being seen drunk during the mayoral elections in Gyumri and had resigned from his mandate. According to Armenian media, he was later reinstated to the party leadership at the instruction of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
There have been no changes in the other six permanent committees. The ruling party has re-supported the candidacies of the current chairpersons.
According to the information, after the leadership of the four committees to be allocated to the opposition is determined, the candidates of the ruling party for those committees will assume the position of deputy chairperson.
It should be noted that the Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, did not attend the meeting of the party's Board. He was abroad and therefore did not participate in the meeting. In addition, the former head of the government apparatus, Arayik Harutyunyan, returned from leave, attended the meeting, and stated that he would make a statement about his departure from office in the near future.
