YEREVAN. – Armenia’s newly appointed Government Chief of Staff-Minister Davit Harutyunyan very easily made the decision to give up is parliamentary seat, Harutyunyan himself told Armenian News-NEWS.am.  

“I received the offer two-three days ago, and I immediately agreed; it was an easy decision,” he said.  

To the remark that he was chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs and also head of the NA delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and to the query that, in his view, who can replace him in these positions, the new government chief of staff-minister responded:

“We have not yet discussed the matter of the committee chair, but I am convinced that we have worthy candidates who can replace me.” 

Harutyunyan added that, pursuant to the law, the aforesaid committee’s chairman will have to be from the ruling Republican Party (RPA) NA Faction. 

And to the question on who is worthy to replace him at PACE, Davit Harutyunyan said: “I will say only that he should not necessarily be from the RPA.”  

As reported earlier, President Serzh Sargsyan on Friday signed a decree whereby Davit Harutyunyan is appointed Government Chief of Staff-Minister of Armenia.