Wednesday, December 4 2019 11:07

ArmInfo.The deputies of the National Assembly of Armenia at the meeting on December 4 in the second and final reading voted against the draft amendments submitted by the Enlightened Armenia faction to the law "On Service in the  National Security Bodies" and in the package of related laws. For the  adoption of the package 19 deputies voted with 89 against.

The package provided for the appointment of persons to senior  positions in national security bodies, as well as in other law  enforcement agencies, to apply criteria that meet the requirements  put forward by candidates for deputies or members of the government.

According to the leader of the Enlightened Armenia faction, Edmon  Marukyan, the package proposed to establish a provision according to  which it would be possible to appoint persons who are not  representatives of law enforcement agencies as heads of the Police,  National Security Service. Marukyan recalled that there were always  problems with the appointment of the chiefs of the SNB and the  police. "During the discussion of the government's structure, it was  repeatedly noted that law enforcement agencies are political bodies,  respectively, should be included in the government, but all our  proposals were ignored. We suggest that when appointing people to  governing bodies of law enforcement agencies apply criteria that  would meet the requirements, put forward before candidates for  deputies or members of the government, "said Edmon Marukyan. He also  pointed out that the heads of law enforcement agencies should be  citizens of Armenia at least 25 years old, have lived at least four  years in the republic, have a higher legal education and have at  least five years of experience. According to the deputy, the  parliamentary system of government implies equal requirements both  for deputies, members of the government and judges, and for employees  of other structures.

In turn, RA First Deputy Minister of Justice Rafik Grigoryan noted  that the idea itself is acceptable to the RA government. However, the  positions of the heads of power departments are directly related to  military service, since they are often equated with it. And in this  context, the adoption of the document will lead to constitutional  collapse, as there will be problems with the assignment of military  ranks, career advancement, etc. For this and other reasons, the  government is opposed to the liberalization of posts in law  enforcement agencies.