Armenian opposition faction refuses to join parliament’s church-inquiry committee, calling it unconstitutional

Anna Grigoryan, leader of the opposition “Armenia” faction in Armenia’s National Assembly, said on Monday, Oct. 5, that the faction will not participate in the inquiry committee on the Armenian Apostolic Church. NEWS.am reported her remarks from a press conference. She said the committee is “in essence unconstitutional.” She also said the government program’s provision on dismissing Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II is unconstitutional, and that the two opposition factions have appealed to the Constitutional Court over it. She accused the authorities of circulating “false agendas” to divert public attention.

The inquiry committee was announced on Oct. 2 by Speaker Ruben Rubinyan after at least one-quarter of lawmakers requested it, under parliament’s rules of procedure. The government side presents the inquiry as an examination of a “crisis” in the Church tied to the conduct of senior clergy. A report prepared by an information centre attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, published in late September on the prime minister’s instructions, proposes forming a reform group and, as a second step, the “removal of the de facto head” of the Church—language the government uses for Catholicos Karekin II. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has rejected that report as unconstitutional and anti-canonical (see FWB’s Oct. 3 inquiry brief).

Separately on Oct. 5, Strong Armenia lawmaker Aram Vardevanyan said neither the legislature nor the executive can interfere in the Mother See’s activities because doing so would be unconstitutional. “The state and the Church are separate,” PAN.am quoted him saying. The Oct. 30 court ruling on defense motions in the criminal case against Karekin II and six bishops remains pending.