Lawyer Arsen Babayan, a senior member of the opposition Homeland Party, insists all bonuses awarded to lawmakers are illegal and must be returned to Armenia’s state budget.

Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan recently signed an order stating that MPs would receive one-time cash bonuses. Later, it turned out that the bonuses would be awarded only to deputes from the ruling Civil Contract party.

Babayan says the speaker’s decree also has an appendix listing MPs who are to receive bonuses, however the parliament leadership has not publicized it in violation of the law.

“Under the law, the order comes into effect only after the full publication of the appendix. Only then may the bonuses be awarded. However, the current leadership has not published them during all this time,” he wrote on Facebook.

“After the ouster of the current authorities (no matter when it happens), the next government must probe this illegal practice and fully recover the funds embezzled from the state budget,” Babayan said.