The session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Monday was marked by unprecedented events and demands of the deputies with regard to the resignation of PACE President Pedro Agramunt, who known for his pro-Azerbaijani position. The latter has also been involved in the notorious corruption scandal.
Member of the Armenian delegation, Samvel Farmanyan, who is an MP of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), told Armenian News – NEWS.am that all the morning sessions were dedicated to the situation connected with Agramunt. All the groups agreed that the latter has lost credibility and, basically, a political crisis is becoming imminent.
“After the session of the political groups, the socialist faction came up with a statement, basically demanding the resignation of Pedro Agramunt. Like the European People’s Party (EPP), we adopted a similar decision, according to which Agramunt and two persons accompanying him, who the Armenian community remembers as pro-Azerbaijani lobbyists, must respond to the questions of all the groups in the format of public hearings, which must take place tomorrow morning,” Farmanyan said.
In his words, the situation is unprecedented. “Agramunt had to interrupt the session and take a 10-minute break, but he didn’t return to the session after the break,” Farmanyan said. The MP also noted that parallel with this, discussion is underway regarding the corruption scandal and setting up of a commission on internal affairs, which will possibly consist of three authoritative PACE Members, former PACE judges or even officials holding responsible posts. Moreover, Farmanyan stressed that the political crisis can be solved by the resignation of Pedro Agramunt during the current session.
Earlier, the Ukrainian delegation to PACE demanded to launch the procedure of PACE President Pedro Agramunt’s impeachment because of the visit of the delegation led by him to Syria. Agramunt, for his part, noted that his visit to Syria was a mistake, stressing that it became a subject of manipulation by the media. Furthermore, he added that he presented all the explanations regaring his visit to the PACE Bureau. However, after the aforementioned demand and the clashes, the deputies began mentioning the corruption scandals in which Agramunt is involved.
