The opposition Armenian lawmakers suggest amending the order of nomination of the candidate for Ombudsman.
When presenting the draft decision, according to which the Committee on State and Legal Affairs is authorized to nominate the candidate for Ombudsman, Head of the Committee Hovhannes Sahakyan said that the discussions mostly covered the issue of nomination of the candidate by one-third of the Committee members. He added that the discussion suggested giving an opportunity to all factions to present their own candidates to the Committee. However, the opposition lawmakers in the Standing Parliamentary Committee on State and Legal Affairs came out against such an order, saying that the given committee consists of mostly members of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and it appears that the candidate for Ombudsman will be nominated by the authorities' representatives.
"Why cannot the Human Rights Committee nominate the ombudsman candidate? It is like nomination of the head of the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition by the Committee on Education and Science. One can admit that the Committee on State and Legal Affairs tackles the draft decision, but it is illogical that this Committee also nominates the candidate," said Nikol Pashinyan, MP from the Armenian National Congress Faction.
For her part, Heritage Faction Head Zaruhi Postanjyan said that though the draft decision offers the factions to advance their nominees, however, the Committee eventually chooses only one candidate for the Parliament's discussion. She suggested choosing at least two candidacies, who obtain the major part of votes of the Committee. This will ensure competition. The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) faction supported Postanjyan's proposal. Head of the PAP Faction Naira Zohrabyan urged Sahakyan to take notice of this idea.
The draft decision stems from the amendments introduced in the Constitution following the 6 Dec 2015 referendum. Thus, the candidate for the Human Rights Defender of Armenia (Ombudsman) is nominated by the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, not the National Assembly.
To recall, during its first session in 2016, the Armenian Parliament accepted the resignation of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia Karen Andreasyan. The Parliament of Armenia received Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan's notice to terminate on January 13. The powers of the human rights defender are terminated if he reaffirms his notice to terminate in a written form at least within 10 days after the first notice. The new ombudsman will be elected through secret voting in the parliament within a month.
To note, Karen Andreasyan has rather tense relations with some circles of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA). According to the media reports, the reason is the conflict between Andreasyan and the Armenian President's son-in-law, Armenia's Ambassador to Vatican Mikayel Minasyan. This is why the RPA representatives loyal to Mikayel Minasyan ganged up against Karen Andreasyan and harshly criticized the latter's latest report in the Parliament. Experts suppose this was the reason of Andreasyan's resignation. Andreasyan was elected Human Rights Defender of Armenia in March 2011 for 6 years, i.e. he had one more year in his term in office.