Month: March 2021

The chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff must remain in office since the process of dismissing him runs counter to the Constitution, according to Gohar Meloyan, an expert in constitutional law.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian refused to sign a decree drafted by the prime minister to sack Onik Gasparyan for a second time on Tuesday. Also, he asked the Constitutional Court to determine the compliance of the 2017 law “On the Status of Military Service and Servicemen” with the Constitution. But the decree was said to automatically enter into force in three days' time under the law.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the lawyer cited Article 155 (Part 3) of the Constitution, which says the highest military official of the armed forces is the General Staff chief, who is appointed by the president upon recommendation of the prime minister, for the term prescribed by law.

“Therefore, the powers to remove the chief of the General Staff from office are limited by the Constitution in order to preserve the inviolability of the armed forces in the event of a balance of political forces. (The grounds for dismissal are general: loss of citizenship, a final conviction, resignation, etc.).

“Article 139 of the Constitution defines the cases and procedures for the appointment and dismissal of the highest command staff of the Armed Forces and other troops but do not provide the authority to dismiss the General Staff chief. Hence, the Constitution gives a special status to the General Staff chief and does not authorize either the president or the prime minister of the country to dismiss him,” she said.

“As for Article 40.3 of the law “On the Status of Military Service and Servicemen”, which envisages the opportunity of discretionary dismissal of senior military officials, first of all, it does not apply to the General Staff chief, because, as I said, the Constitution does not provide for such an opportunity, and the Constitution is superior to the law, while the constitutional bodies are authorized to carry out only such actions which are envisaged by the Constitution. Second, the Constitution separates the chief of the General Staff from the highest command staff of the Armed Forces and other troops, noting that the General Staff chief is the most senior military official of the Armed Forces, giving him a special constitutional status.

“Therefore, the process of dismissing the General Staff chief is illegal in itself, and Onik Gasparyan will continue to hold office,” Meloyan said.  

Colonel-General Onik Gasparyan will continue serving as the chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff until the expiration of an 8-day period, the General Staff said in a statement on Wednesday.

President Armen Sarkissian refused to sign a decree drafted by the prime minister to sack Onik Gasparyan for a second time on Tuesday. In a separate application, he asked the Constitutional Court to determine the compliance of the law of November 15, 2017 “On Military Service and Status of Military Servant” with the Constitution. But the decree was said to automatically enter into force in three days' time under the law.

The statement shared by spokesman of the General Staff Samvel Asatryan said the president acted exclusively in line with the Constitution.

“Under Article 168 of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court is not entitled to determine the compliance of the draft presidential decree with the Constitution or resolve the issue of the dismissal of the General Staff chief; that is, the president may apply to the Constitutional Court with a request to determine the compliance of the law of November 15, 2017 “On Military Service and Status of Military Servant” with the Constitution exclusively as the legal basis of the draft decree, and not in connections with its specific article or part of the law.

“The deadline for applying to the Constitutional Court is not defined at all by Article 139 (Part 2) of the Constitution and the related part. The deadline for the relevant terms is set by Part 3 of Article 35.1 of the law – 8 days after the return of the draft decree (grounds for dismissal, Part 3 of Article 40 of the law refers to the procedure of appointment).

“According to the statement, the president acted and expressed his intention to act exclusively in line with the Constitution.

“Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Colonel-General Onik Gasparyan will continue his service to the homeland and the people and remains the supreme military commander of the Armed Forces until the expiration of the 8-day term (after the president applies to the Constitutional Court, other deadlines come into force)," the statement reads. 

The meeting of the representative of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement with the President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has ended. 

"We met with the president and discussed the issue of submitting the draft decree on dismissing the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces to the Constitutional Court. The President took note of our position and informed he would announce about the decision in the coming hours," Vanetsyan told reporters. 

Earlier, the representatives of the opposition demanded an urgent meeting with the President. As the Movement said in a released statement, they considered the president's position on the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces  quite concerning. The statement came, after President announced he had applied  to the Constitutional Court with a request to determine the constitutionality of only the law “On the Status of Military Service and Servicemen” but failed to turn to the Court to determine the compliance of the decree decree itself on relieving the Chief of the General Staff of his duties.  

Former US Special Negotiator for Nagorno-Karabakh and Eurasian Conflicts Carey Cavanaugh has commented on the developments in Nagorno-Karabakh after the recent war, insisting the situation today after the fighting is no more durable than the situation after the fighting back in the 1990s.

"Aliyev has said repeatedly, and I disagree, that ‘diplomatic solutions were never there, he solved it, solved it with military force.' I would argue it’s not solved,"  Cavanaugh tweeted excepts from his interview on the topic. 

In the words of the former co-chairman, the Nagorno-Karabakh still lacks definitive peace settlement and without it one can never get beyond the risk of a re-eruption of hostilities.

”Situation can be resolved, can be negotiated – but can’t simply fight and solve," added he. 

"We have never resorted to provocations and will never do. There is only one provocateur in our country and his name is Nikol Pashinyan," the coordinator at opposition Homeland Salvation Movement Ishkhan Saghatelyan told reporters on Wednesday. 

Saghatelyan's remarks came when asked to comment on the heightened security measures undertaken in the vicinity of the building of the National Assembly with opposition staging a rally with the central Baghramyan avenue shut down and barricaded for the sixth consecutive day. 

Saghatelyan noted that Pashinyan's movement in Armenia is now possible only accompanied by large police forces which has been the result of all his actions being in power. 

The opposition representative stressed that Pashinyan will bear full responsibility for any incident that may happen and its iconsequences. 

"We will never make provocations since this is a matter of national political struggle for us, and our aim is to complete this cause. "

To note, Pashinyan is expected to visit the National Assembly at 16.30 where the cabinet members are set to hold a Q/A session with lawmakers. 

Armenia's third President Serzh Sargsyan responded to allegations that the statement issued days ago by the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forced to demand Pashinyan's resignation was prompted by him. 

Sargsyan talked to reporters on Wednesday.  Asked whether the information that the former president urged the Chief of the General Staff to come up with the statement corresponds to reality, Sargsyan said: "This allegation is as true as the statements by the capitulant about the constructive approach by Aliyev, about Shushi, being an Azerbaijani town, Iskander missile systems exploding by 10 percent and that Iskander is a weapon of the 80s," Sargsyan said, referring to Armenian PM Pashinyan's recent controversial statements. 

Sargsyan also promised to address all accumulated questions soon. 

Dozens of armed security guards were deployed on Wednesday in the building of the National Assembly, as PM Pashinyan  expected to attend the parliamentary Q/A session with lawmakers. 

The security guards were noticed next to the windows of the building by protesters who were holding a rally on Baghramyan avenue right in front of the parliament building.   

One of the protesters caught a security guard on camera at the balcony of the parliament building with a gun pointed in direction of the protest participants. 

As reported earlier, police forces in anti-riot gear  were deployed at the scene stun grenades were moved to the park of the National Assembly ahead of Pashinyan's visit. 

The opposition Homeland Salvation Movement will hold meetings in Armenian regions in the coming days, the candidate for the post of interim prime minister from opposition Vazgen Manukyan stated on Wednesday during the rally on Baghramyan Avenue. Manukyan said that on March 6 another rally is planned on Baghramyan. 

"We will visit provinces with the representatives of the Movement. Our voice is not heard there where people watch only H1 (ed. Public TV Channel). On Saturday, we will hold a rally at 15.00," said Manukyan. 

He next didn't exclude drastic actions might be needed.  "Developments may prompt us to take drastic actions," added Manukyan.