Sixteen months after a drunken scandal that led to his resignation from Armenia’s outgoing parliament, a prominent member of the ruling Civil Contract party is poised to head a key standing committee of the recently elected National Assembly.
Vilen Gabrielian is among 12 pro-government lawmakers whom Civil Contract’s governing board led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian designated as chairpersons of various parliament committees on Wednesday. He will almost certainly be elected as head of the committee on defense and national security during the new parliament’s inaugural session scheduled for Sunday.
Gabrielian sat on the panel until being forced to resign his parliament seat in April 2025. The 42-year-old announced the resignation two days after he appeared drunk in public, swearing at one journalist and arguing with several others during a local election held in Gyumri.
Gabrielian apologized to the public for his “inappropriate behavior.” However, he defended the next day his swear words addressed to the reporter, accusing the latter of blackmailing him.
While disapproving of their colleague’s behavior, other lawmakers affiliated with Pashinian’s party said that Gabrielian deserves respect for resigning from the parliament. Parliament speaker Alen Simonian made a point of posting on social media photographs of him and Gabrielian.
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