YEREVAN. - If a deputy leaves a parliamentary faction or is expelled from it, one cannot demand that he return his mandate.

MP of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Hovhannes Sahakyan, who is also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on State and Legal Affairs, stated the aforementioned in the parliament on Wednesday, introducing the bill on making amendments to the Law on “National Assembly Regulation.”

The constitution doesn’t stipulate depriving a deputy of his mandate in such cases. Thus, this cannot be prescribed in another law either, Sahakyan added.

On the other hand, norms of deputy ethics should be in force: if a parliamentarian leaves a party, he cannot represent its faction when on a parliamentary post (chairman of a committee or inter-parliamentary group).

“For instance, many members left the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), staying in its faction also as committee chairmen. What should the law provide for in such cases? This should be discussed. But one thing is clear: The Constitution doesn’t give the right to deprive a deputy of his mandate for this,” Sahakyan noted.