A Competition Board must be formed for the election of candidates for the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee, which is defined by Article 18 of the Law on the Anti-Corruption Committee.
According to the law, the Board is formed from the candidates appointed by the Government, the Council of the National Assembly, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Prosecutor General, the Human Rights Defender (one candidate from each), and two representatives of civil society.
In response to Iravaban.net‘s inquiry, the Human Rights Defender’s Office stated that the Human Rights Defender had not nominated a candidate.
“Due to the absence of an employee who meets the mandatory conditions required by the “Law on the Anti-Corruption Committee”, the RA Human Rights Defender did not nominate a member of the Competition Board for the election of candidates for the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee,” the response reads.
As we have already informed, at the special sitting of the Council of the National Assembly on 29 June, Heriknaz Tigranyan was appointed a member of the Competition Board for the election of the candidates for the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee with 11 votes in favor, 0 abstentions and 0 votes against.
Heriknaz Tigranian’s appointment as a member of the Competition Board to be formed for the election of the candidates for the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee is illegal, because under paragraph 3 of Article 18 of the Law on the Anti-Corruption Committee, a member with party affiliation cannot be appointed a member of the Competition Council, and Heriknaz Tigranyan is a member the “Civil Contract” Party.
In addition, on 28 June, an announcement was published on the official website of the Government, which reads:
“The following organizations have applied for the competition announced by the Prime Minister’s Office for the inclusion of representatives of civil society organizations in the Competition Board for the Election of Candidates for the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee: Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center NGO” and “Union of Informed Citizens” Consulting NGO.
The interesting thing here is that later this announcement was removed from the site and now, when accessing the link of the material, it indicates that such page does not exist https://www.gov.am/en/announcements/item/1090/. It can also be seen in the section of announcements. There is no such announcement published on 28 June.
It should be reminded that the Governing Board of the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia issued a statement on June 9, which reads:
“On 4 June, 2021, the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia announced a competition to involve two representatives of civil society in the Competition Council (hereinafter referred to as the Council) for the Election of Candidates for the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee). The announcement of the competition was published on the Government website on Friday, 4 June, 2021. The period for applications is only 5 days, from June 7 to 11 inclusive (Monday to Friday following the announcement).
According to the RA Law on the Anti-Corruption Committee, a Competition Council is formed for the election of the candidates for the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee. The Council is composed of candidates nominated by the Government, the Council of the National Assembly, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Prosecutor General, the Human Rights Defender (one candidate each), and two representatives of civil society.
The CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition Armenia, taking into account the vicious practice of election of the Competition Board members for the election of the members to the Corruption Prevention Commission, has issued a condemning statement on 4 June, announces that it will not participate in the competition for the election of two members from the Civil Council to be included in the composition of the Competition Council.
Moreover, the Coalition questions this unjustified haste in the conditions under which the competition is organized during the pre-election campaign for the early parliamentary elections in Armenia under the veil of suddenness, false democracy and transparency. Therefore, the Coalition calls on the Government to refrain from holding the above-mentioned formal competition and making political appointments under its veil until the end of the extraordinary parliamentary elections and the formation of the new composition of the National Assembly. Earlier, the Coalition expressed a negative opinion on the appointment of the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee, other officials and other important provisions, as it would be a political party-group interest-led, government-sponsored, one-person political appointment by the Prime Minister. From the outset, such formulation does not meet such important criteria set out in the Jakarta Statement on the Principles for Anti-Corruption Agencies as: impartiality, neutrality, integrity and competence, independence and political neutrality. Therefore, the formation of anti-corruption bodies through corrupt behavior and conflicts of interest is doomed to failure from the beginning. And we, as pioneers in the fight against corruption, cannot be participants in it.
Note: The CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia was founded on 28 November 2014 in Yerevan within the framework of the EU-funded “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion” project. The Coalition currently has 71 civil society organizations, and the secretariat is run by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association.”
