National Assembly (Armenia)

National Assembly
*Ազգային ժողով*
Basic data
Seat:	Yerevan
Legislative period :	5 years
MPs:	131
Current legislative period
Last choice:	December 9, 2018
Chair:	Speaker; Ararat Mirsojan
	88 16 24 3 88 16 24 3
Distribution of seats:	Government (88) My Step Alliance (IKD) 88; Civil contract (KP) 56; Mission (AK) 4; M. Motherland (HH) 1; independent 27; Opposition (43) Blooming Armenia (BHK) 24; independent 2; Luminous Armenia (LH) 16; independent 5; without parliamentary group 3; independent 1; Alliance 1; Blooming Armenia (BHK) 1;
	Website
	www.parliament.am

The National Assembly ( Armenian Ազգային ժողով / Asgajin schoghow, in scientific transliteration Azgayin žołov ) is the parliament of the Republic of Armenia .

history

The Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR , which had declared itself independent from the USSR on September 21, 1991 , was not elected in an already free election until May 20, 1991 (some runoff elections only on June 3). The first National Assembly was therefore not elected until July 5, 1995. The number of seats was 190, of which 150 were directly elected and 40 via the parties' lists. Babken Ararkzjan became President of Parliament . After a government crisis in February 1999, at the height of which President Levon Ter- Petrosyan had to resign, Khosrov replaced Harutjunyan Arakzjan as parliamentary president.

The election for the second National Assembly was held on May 30, 1999. The number of seats was only 131, of which 75 were directly elected and 56 via party lists. The parliamentary president was Karen Demirchyan , former general secretary of the Armenian Communist Party . On October 27, 1999, armed bombers stormed the National Assembly and shot and killed leading politicians, including Prime Minister Wasken Zarkissyan , the Speaker of Parliament, a minister and five MPs. Some of the perpetrators were later sentenced to life imprisonment. Armen Khachaturian became the new President of Parliament .

The elections for the third National Assembly took place on May 25, 2003. Arthur Baghdassarjan from the second largest group became President of Parliament. After his party's withdrawal from government, Tigran Torossjan was elected as the new parliamentary president on June 1, 2006 . Elections were held on May 12, 2007 , and only 41 direct mandates were awarded. The Republican Party of Armenia was under the leadership of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan further expand its strong position and received 64 seats of 131. In 24 seats came from the big businessmen Gagik Tsarukyan newly founded party Prosperous Armenia , which together with the Republicans and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation to then formed the government. As a result of the gains, Sargsyan's party was able to form a two-party coalition with Blooming Armenia. The 2007 parliamentary elections were the first elections in Armenia since independence, which OSCE observers described as "largely in line with international standards".

In the parliamentary elections on May 6, 2012 , the Republican Party was able to gain significantly and has since governed alone. A controversial constitutional referendum in December 2015 changed the conditions for the next elections so that the number of MPs was reduced to 105 and all mandates are awarded according to a proportional representation procedure. In the 2017 parliamentary elections , the ruling party again emerged as the clear winner with 49% of the vote. The opposition Zarukjan bloc around Gagik Zarukjan, the largest part of which is the Blooming Armenia party, became the second strongest force with 27% of the vote, followed by the new alliance Jelk (way out) and the ARF. The election also marked the completion of the constitutional reform begun in 2015 and thus the transition from the presidential to the parliamentary system of government. According to OSCE observers, this election also resulted in numerous irregularities such as buying votes and pressure against officials and employees.

Parliament building

The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia

The National Assembly has its seat in the parliament building in Yerevan . It was built from 1948 to 1950 for the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Armenia. The architect Mark Grigoryan received the Stalin Prize for this in 1951 . In 1991 the building was handed over to the previous institution of the National Assembly.