Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party has nominated Ruben Rubinyan for the post of Speaker of the National Assembly, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced following the party board’s meeting on Thursday.
Earlier, Pashinyan had said that the party’s board would hold a closed, secret ballot to select one of the candidates nominated for the position. According to media reports, the three contenders were incumbent Speaker Alen Simonyan, Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan, and Civil Contract parliamentary faction leader Hayk Konjoryan.
The Speaker of the National Assembly is elected during the first session of the newly elected parliament. All parliamentary factions are entitled to nominate candidates. The speaker is elected by secret ballot with a majority of the total number of deputies and is assisted by three deputy speakers, one of whom must represent the opposition.
Following the June 7 parliamentary elections, three political forces secured seats in the National Assembly: Civil Contract, the Strong Armenia party, and the Armenia Alliance.
