YEREVAN. – The matter of removing Zaruhi Postanjyan from the Armenian National Assembly (NA) delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is under the powers of the NA Speaker.    

Ruling Republican Party MP Davit Harutyunyan, who is Head of the Armenian NA delegation to PACE, stated the aforesaid during a press conference on Thursday. 

In his words, the PACE rules do not obligate that the entire political “palette” be represented in a delegation. Furthermore, the PACE procedure allows for making rotations.

“The matter is not about removing Zaruhi Postanjyan [who is opposition Heritage Party NA Faction Secretary and member of Armenia’s NA delegation to PACE], the matter is about forming the delegation, which must be carried out in consideration of the PACE rules,” Harutyunyan stressed.        

Commenting on the remark that an MP has the right to free speech and ask any question, Davit Harutyunyan stated as follows:  

“Personally, I think that posing such question at the PACE was unprecedented. There are, of course, politicians that carry out such actions to seem more opposition. [But] in politics such scandalous forms are perceived negatively.”    

To note, during the question and answer session at the PACE plenary session in Strasbourg, France, on October 2, Zaruhi Postanjyan had asked Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan the following question:

“You have appeared here [in the PACE session] not by the will of the people, but [rather] as a consequence of organized crime, the theft of the Armenian people’s vote. Therefore you cannot de jure represent the will and right of the Armenian people. [So,] I’ll give you another question. Have you been to a casino in Europe and lost 70 million euros there? And who paid that amount in your stead?”