YEREVAN. – The position of the PAP faction should just be taken note of. Lilit Makunts, head of the majority My Step faction at the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, on Wednesday told this to reporters in parliament. She noted this while commenting on the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) parliamentary faction’s response My Step’s initiative toward the termination of Hrayr Tovmasyan’s powers as President of the Constitutional Court (CC).

As reported earlier, the Prosperous Armenia faction has decided not to take part in the parliamentary voting on the aforesaid matter.

To the remark that PAP Chairman—and tycoon—Gagik Tsarukyan, who also heads the Prosperous Armenia faction in parliament, stated that it is not up to the NA to decide whether to terminate the CC president’s powers, Makunts responded as follows, in particular: “The NA is just submitting a [respective] draft to the Constitutional Court, and that body itself decides what will take place.”

Asked whether they have considered the possibility that the CC could reject the arguments presented by the parliament, the head of the My Step faction noted, in particular: “We were not going to turn a blind eye to the legal arguments that had emerged. Within the powers of the NA, we are carrying out the processes stemming from the letter of the law.”

Also, Makunts stressed that in such matters it is important for the parliamentary factions to express a position and, in case of legal arguments, to move forward by consensus.

And asked what she thinks is hindering the PAP from expressing a position on this matter, Makunts said: “Taking into account the fact that they have had a different position in the past, of course, it’s incomprehensible not to express a position. (...). It’s incomprehensible to me that in the case of legal justifications, those justifications have been put aside. Otherwise, the PAP would have announced that the justifications are weak and they are voting against [this initiative].”

Lilit Makunts expressed a view that this approach of the PAP is a political decision.