Raffi Hovannisian decides to put down parliamentary mandate
The second session of the National Assembly of the fifth convocation kicked off on Monday, September 10, with NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan congratulating Armenian chess players on the victory in the World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul.
Hrant Bagrayan, a lawmaker from the Armenian National Congress (HAK), said that the draft laws on amending the RA Laws on Minimum Wage and on Environmental Protection authored by the HAK faction had not be included in the session agenda.
Ruben Hakobyan, head of the Heritage faction, suggested his colleagues to remove from the agenda the controversial Armenian-Turkish Protocols. Heritage MP Zaruhi Postanjyan added that the protocols should be withdrawn given the shameful deal between Azerbaijan and Hungary, which resulted in the extradition and pardoning of Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov, who killed in 2004 Armenian lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan during a NATO training course in Budapest.
Chairman of the Heritage party, Raffi Hovannisian, has submitted an application to the NA informing about his decision to refuse his parliamentary mandate. NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan today read the resignation letter of Mr. Hovannisian, adding that the Heritage representative has 15 days to withdraw his resignation before it is officially accepted.
