I am the Speaker of the National Assembly and accept all the candidates for judge of the Constitutional Court nominated by the President of Armenia. This is what Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan told journalists at the National Assembly today, touching upon the fact that the President of Armenia has nominated lawyer Vahe Grigoryan whom, according to reliable sources, the ruling party wants to see as judge of the Constitutional Court.

When asked for his assessment of the fact that the National Assembly has rejected the candidates for judge of the Constitutional Court four times over the past year, Mirzoyan said the following: “The candidates are nominated and elected by people and authorities who have the competence to nominate and elect. The candidates might be elected and might not be elected,” Mirzoyan said.

As far as Vahe Grigoryan is concerned, the parliamentary speaker says he has close ties with Vahe Grigoryan that he established many years ago when he would participate in small and large movements and see many human rights lawyers at the police stations, including Vahe Grigoryan.

When told that deputy of the Bright Armenia faction Taron Simonyan had said Vahe Grigoryan’s nomination is unlawful since the law states that the President of Armenia may not nominate the same candidate more than once, Mirzoyan said the issue has been discussed with lawyers several times and has been made public and he sees no point in stating all the arguments of lawyers one by one.