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The formation of the Armenian National Assembly delegations at international parliamentary assemblies this week ended with the disagreements between the “My Step” and “Bright Armenia” factions.
In particular, during the discussion on the composition of the parliamentary delegations at the Black Sea Economic Cooperation PA and the NATO PA, “My Step” faction proposed the PAP and Bright Armenia one seat for each in case there is a consensus among the opposition factions, and they vote in favor of the proposed composition of the delegation.
The opposition, however, did not come to a consensus, as a result of which the PAP has no representation in the NATO PA, and Bright Armenia has no representation in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation PA.
According to “My Step” Alliance spokesman Vahan Kostanyan, the NA Speaker suggested that all parliamentary factions be represented in these two parliamentary assemblies, and representatives of “My Step” have stated they are ready to accept the aforementioned proposal and yield one quota to the opposition if consensus is established regarding the composition of all parliamentary assemblies. “However, it turned out that some colleagues from the opposition decided to make new demands, and, finally, before the vote there was a consensus minus 1, and the majority, I think, voted fairly according to the preliminary principle”, Kostanyan said.
Edmon Marukyan, head of “Bright Armenia” faction, also commented on this issue, claiming that their political force opposed such an “act of good will” by the majority, and opposed the proposal of “My Step” because of unfair distribution.
Since the 7th convocation parliamentary delegations were formed at the inter-parliamentary assemblies on the basis of the decision of the previous convocation of the National Assembly, i.e. on the principle of proportional distribution, we decided to present the distribution of seats in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and NATO parliamentary assemblies, as well as at 11 international parliamentary assemblies in these and previous parliaments.
Although the number of delegates remains the same in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation PA, i.e. we have 4 MPs, we see that the combination of proportional representation and the representation of all the factions were ensured in the previous convocation National Assembly. And in the current National Assembly, the ruling power did not combine these two principles.
In the case of NATO PA, as we can see, the total number of delegates included in the delegation has changed from 4 to 3. The 4 seats in the 6th convocation National Assembly were equally distributed, and this time “My Step” has the majority, Bright Armenia has one representative and PAP has none.
The representation of the Armenian delegation in 11 international parliamentary organizations is as follows. Previously, the 84 seats of the delegations were distributed among the four factions as follows: RPA – 39 seats (46.4%), Tsarukyan Bloc -21 seats (25%), “Yelq” – 13 seats (15.5%) and ARF -11 seats (13.1%).
Currently, the 97 seats are distributed among 3 factions as follows: “My Step – 64 seats (65.9%), PAP – 20 (20.7%), and Bright Armenia – 13 (13.4%).
Thus, we can state that the National Assembly of the previous convocation ensured the full involvement of the opposition in the parliamentary assemblies, although there were 4 factions and the number of deputies was small (105, currently 132).
It should be added that according to Clause 11 of the decision adopted by the 6th convocation National Assembly, the proportionality of the representation in the main and substitute composition of the deputies of the factions included in the delegations is defined by the National Assembly Council based on the statutes of international parliamentary organizations as well as the number of deputies of the National Assembly factions. The board may also set a rotation order, enabling the representatives of factions not included in the delegation to be included in the relevant delegation at regular intervals.
Arpi Avetisyan
