Armenian Oppositionist Elected Parliament Vice-Speaker

The ruling Civil Contract party, which holds 64 seats in the 105-member National Assembly, did not say until the last minute whether it will enable Vartevanian’s election. Dozens of its deputies grilled him on Friday about his political views and past and present political activities. The party’s parliamentary leader, Arusyak Manavazian, said shortly before the vote that it will give him enough votes to become vice-speaker.

Vartevanian’s candidacy for the post was swiftly backed by former President Robert Kocharian’s Hayastan alliance, the other opposition group represented in the new parliament. The 36-year-old lawyer had been elected to the country’s former parliament on the Hayastan ticket in 2021. He subsequently resigned his seat and returned to legal practice.

Vartevanian has been a member of Strong Armenia leader Samvel Karapetian’s legal team for the past year. He has also represented other opposition figures prosecuted by the Armenian authorities. He spoke on Friday of an “unprecedented” number of political prisoners in the country.

Vartevanian told reporters following his election that he is mindful of “difficulties” awaiting him in the new capacity. He suggested that speaker Ruben Rubinian will not let him chair parliament sessions.

Rubinian and his two other deputies are senior members of Civil Contract. No lawmakers representing Strong Armenia or Hayastan voted for them.

Both opposition groups rejected as fraudulent the official results of the June 7 parliamentary elections that gave victory to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s party. They faced calls from many supporters to refuse to take up their seats in order to further undermine the parliament’s legitimacy. Their leaders opted against a boycott, saying that their presence in the parliament will not prevent them from attempting to topple Pashinian through street protests.

Strong Armenia and Hayastan also decided to nominate the chairpersons of four of the parliament’s 12 standing committees. Under Armenian law, these positions are also reserved for their representatives. Civil Contract indicated on Monday that it will not block their election. The ruling party will install the heads of the most important parliament committees.

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