YEREVAN. – The Armenian National Assembly (NA) Sessions’ Hall is more crowded than usual on Tuesday, as 96 of the 131 MPs are in the Hall. And the reason for this turnout is the election for the new NA Speaker.   

On Monday, the ruling coalition’s Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Parliamentary Faction nominated the current Deputy Speaker Samvel Nikoyan for this post, whereas the parliamentary opposition Heritage Party Faction, nominated its MP, Larisa Alaverdyan.   

At present, when Nikoyan, who is chairing the session, announced the start of the session, several RPA MPs were still in the corridors, and they dashed from the steps and entered the Hall. But Nikoyan noticed their unpunctuality and said: “Couldn’t you have come one minute early?”

This notwithstanding, Samvel Nikoyan did allow those MPs to register.