Ruling MP says Armenia President could face impeachment

PanARMENIAN.Net - Lawmaker Vahagn Hovakimyan from the ruling My Step bloc has announced that Armenian President Armen Sarkissian could be facing impeachment.

The announcement came immediately after Sarkissian decided to not sign the draft decree submitted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the dismissal of the Chief of the Army General Staff Onik Gasparyan, and return the proposal to the head of government with objections.

According to Hovakimyan, "at first glance" it may seem that Sarkissian has only used his constitutional authority by returning the draft decree on the dismissal of the Chief of General Staff to the Prime Minister. However, he added, the President cannot arbitrarily return drafts to the person or agency that has submitted them.

"Specifically in this situation, the Prime Minister, within his powers (Article 155 of the Constitution), has proposed to dismiss the Chief of the General Staff. Even a person with the most mystical imagination cannot see any anti-constitutional elements in this process. In reality, we are dealing with the arbitrary execution of his powers by the President," Hovakimyan wrote on Facebook.

The MP believes that such approaches can threaten state security and lead to the destabilization of the situation in the country.

“Therefore, we can state there are obvious grounds for starting impeachment procedures against the President on the basis of a gross violation of the Constitution (Article 141),” Hovakimyan added.