Zhirayr Sefilyan cannot be included in the pre-election list and will not participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Hermine Mkrtchyan, the spokesperson of the “Sasna Tsrer” party, stated that Sefilyan does not have RA citizenship.

“Zhirair Sefilyan cannot be included in the pre-election list as a candidate, because he was never granted RA citizenship,” he said. Sefilyan, according to the speaker, as an honorary representative of the “Sasna Trees” party, will take an active part in the entire election process.

Zhirayr Sefilyan applied for RA citizenship on August 2. The speaker noted that he also attached a separate letter to his application to the RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, taking into account his previous applications for citizenship, to resolve the issue of granting citizenship retrospectively. At the beginning of October, the head of the staff of the RA government Eduard Aghajanyan reported that this issue can be resolved in court.

“Since the authority to grant citizenship is discretionary, in this case, the law does not prohibit to consider the previous applications of Zhirayr Sefilyan respectable and to grant him citizenship retroactively. According to that, the chief of staff of the RA government, in fact, records that there is no desire and will to grant back-numbered citizenship to Zhirayr Sefilyan. Aghajanyan noted that if Zhirayr Sefilyan does not agree with that decision, he can apply to the court,” said Mkrtchyan in a conversation with Yerkir.

And to the clarifying question, if they did not grant citizenship in the last number, then they will not be granted citizenship according to the normal procedure, to respond. “Sefilyan also applied for citizenship through the normal procedure, the application is in progress, but it is being delayed for unknown reasons.”