All Those Loopholes in the Laws Will Be Completely Closed: Robert Kocharyan

Former President of Armenia and leader of the "Armenia" alliance, Robert Kocharyan, met on June 3 with high-ranking officials and officers from the police, Ministry of Defense, and National Security Service from various years.

"To be honest, I was extremely pleased when the initiative was taken to meet with the service members of our country’s most important institutions: the military, police, and security services. This means that we are all concerned and understand that something needs to change, be done. There are police officers in the hall who, during this time, have simply not been able to come to terms with this situation and have left the system. It’s difficult for a person with epaulettes to leave service because your life undergoes a drastic change," the former president stated.

During the meeting, it was noted that amendments were made to the NSS law in May 2008, allowing individuals who held high positions in various agencies to be transferred to the NSS: "A person who hasn’t served in the army is appointed as deputy in the Investigative Committee or deputy in the Prosecutor's Office, and a few days later, they find themselves in the position of Director of the NSS."

The second president responded that the law, which restricted such appointments, was adopted during his presidency: "At that time, we legally regulated the entire system of public service—both in civil service and national security agencies, police service, and diplomatic service. The essence of that law was to provide a predictable career path for everyone and to prevent the situation where someone is brought in from above and placed in a high position. A soldier should inevitably find themselves in a terrible discomfort due to all of this. I know that after that, some loopholes were opened, made larger, turned into a window, and then made into a door, even before this government. This government also utilized the same tricks well; one day they are appointed to one position, and the next day they are placed in another and find themselves in the position of NSS director. This is a path to dismantling the system. We didn’t even allow such things in the field of civil service. Those strict norms must be reinstated. All those loopholes in the laws will be completely closed."