The ruling faction "Civil Contract" of the National Assembly of Armenia has not yet decided whether it will vote for the candidacy of Aram Vardevanyan, the third vice-speaker candidate from the opposition. This was stated on August 7 by the deputy of the ruling faction Sisak Gabrielyan:
It should be noted that the parliament has already elected the speaker of the National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan, and two vice-speakers Aik Kondjoryan and Vaagn Aleksanyan, who were nominated by the "Civil Contract". According to current legislation, the third vice-speaker must necessarily be a representative of the opposition that received the most votes in the elections, that is, he must represent the "Strong Armenia" faction.
Gabrielyan noted that based on the number of registered speeches on Vardevanyan's candidacy, it is unlikely that the vote will take place today. A total of 59 deputies from all three factions have registered to speak, with each being allocated 10 minutes.
When asked whether it is realistic that the representatives of the ruling party will refuse to speak in the absence of opposition deputies in the hall, who will be at the court against the Catholicos of all Armenians from 15:00, Sisakyan answered negatively. He reminded that after 15:00 there will still be only one session, which will last only one and a half hours.
"I think the vote will take place tomorrow," said the ruling party deputy, adding that most likely the decision on how to vote will be unified for the faction. "In any case, this position is reserved for the opposition. Aram Vardevanyan himself stated in his speech that he really wants to take the vice-speaker's seat. Personally, I do not see any serious reasons to assert that the faction does not want to see Vardevanyan in this position and prefers another candidate from the opposition. In all cases, the decision should be made by the faction "Civil Contract", and this decision will be binding for all deputies of the ruling party," emphasized Sisak Gabrielyan.
