Head of the Heritage Party parliamentary faction Zaruhi Postanjyan submitted the necessary documents to the Parliamentary Committee for State and Legal Affairs on February 8 for her nomination for the post of Ombudsperson.
Orinats Yerkir Party parliamentary faction has nominated Postanjyan for the given post. The Republican Party's nominee, Arman Tatoyan, who is deputy minister of justice, has also submitted his documents. The Committee will meet on February 12 and elect one of the nominees by 1/3 of the votes. The elected nominee will be approved through voting at the Parliament. ARFD Party is to make its choice concerning the nominee for the Ombudsperson by February 12.The deadline for nomination of the candidates is February 9.
Bright Armenia Party leader Edmon Marukyan, Heritage Party faction that is represented at the Committee by Zaruhi Postanjyan only, and Orinats Yerkir Party faction have expressed their intention to support Postanjyan's candidature. The Armenian National Congress will not nominate anyone, as the party does not want to participate in what it calls farce. Nevertheless, Levon Zurabyan, the head of the ANC faction, says they have nothing against Postanjyan. Prosperous Armenia Party will nominate Makar Yeghiazaryan for the post of Ombudsman. Parliament of Armenia received Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan's notice to terminate, on January 13.
To note, Karen Andreasyan has rather tense relations with some circles of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA). According to the media reports, the reason is the conflict between Andreasyan and the Armenian President's son-in-law, Armenia's Ambassador to Vatican Mikayel Minasyan. This is why the RPA representatives loyal to Mikayel Minasyan ganged up against Karen Andreasyan and harshly criticized the latter's latest report in the Parliament. Experts suppose this was the reason of Andreasyan's resignation. Andreasyan was elected Human Rights Defender of Armenia in March 2011 for 6 years, i.e. he had one more year in his term in office. First Ombudsperson Larisa Alaverdyan also left the post ahead of time.