Head of National Assembly Staff Confirms Parliamentary Assistants Demanded Bonuses

The head of the National Assembly staff, Vahan Naribekyan, stated that he does not intend to submit a resignation letter until the Speaker of the National Assembly tells him to. Naribekyan made this remark in an interview with News.am, addressing reports circulating in the media that a decision was made during a closed meeting of the ruling Civil Contract faction regarding the departure of Naribekyan due to the demands of parliamentary assistants seeking bonuses.

“I am subordinate to the Speaker of the National Assembly, and only he can suggest that I submit my resignation. I cannot submit a resignation letter based on the demands of the assistants. If the Speaker does not wish to work with me, I will respect that decision,” he noted.

Naribekyan confirmed that some parliamentary assistants indeed demanded bonuses, but he refrained from specifying whether they were the assistants to the faction leader Hayk Konjoryan and the secretary Artur Hovhannisyan, as mentioned in the press. “I won’t name individuals because the list is long, and I haven’t reviewed it, but there were those who were interested, yes. In any case, bonuses can be received by public servants twice a year as stipulated by law; others, including assistants, cannot. Nobody has mentioned resignation to me. If the assistants spoke with the deputies and a decision was made, I am still unaware of it. I am currently on a working visit in Paris and will return in two days at the latest, and everything will be clear then,” he stated.