National Assembly (Armenia) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids National Assembly Ազգային ժողով
8th convocation of the National Assembly

Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	1 August 1918, reestablished 5 July 1995
Preceded by	Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia
Leadership
President	Alen Simonyan, Civil Contract Since 2 August 2021
Structure
Seats	107

Political groups	Government (71) Civil Contract (71) Civil Contract (63) Independents (7) United Labour Party (1) Opposition (36) Armenia Alliance (29) ARF (15) Independents (14) I Have Honor Alliance (6) Republican Party (4) Independents (2) Independents (1)
Length of term	5 years
Elections
Voting system	Majority bonus system with a 5% threshold for parties and a 7% threshold for alliances
Last election	20 June 2021
Next election	2026
Meeting place

National Assembly Building 19 Baghramyan Avenue Yerevan, 0095 Armenia
Website
National Assembly of Armenia

Aerial view of the building and premises

The National Assembly of Armenia is like the main law-making group (or legislative branch) for the country of Armenia. It's also sometimes called the Parliament of Armenia. This important group helps run the government by creating and approving laws.

What is the National Assembly?
How Members are Elected
Leaders of the National Assembly
Latest Election Results
Committees: How the National Assembly Works
See also

What is the National Assembly?

The National Assembly first started in 1918. It was called the Khorhurd back then. It was formed after Armenia declared its independence. This group acted as a temporary government, helping to lead the new country.

Later, in 1919, more members joined the National Assembly. It grew to 80 members, including people from different minority groups. This group continued to work until Armenia became part of the Soviet Union in 1920.

From 1938, the National Assembly in Soviet Armenia was known as the Supreme Council of Armenia. After the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, Armenia created a new Constitution in 1995. This led to the formation of the National Assembly we know today.

The National Assembly is a unicameral body. This means it has only one main group of members, not two separate groups like some other countries. It usually has at least 101 members. The person in charge of the National Assembly is called the President, and currently, that is Alen Simonyan.

How Members are Elected

Members of the National Assembly are chosen through elections. People vote for political parties, and seats in the Assembly are given out based on how many votes each party gets. This is called party list proportional representation.

Fair Representation: Four seats are set aside for national minorities. These are groups of people who might be smaller in number. This helps make sure their voices are heard.
Gender Balance: To make sure there's a good mix of men and women, no more than 70% of the top people on a party's list can be of the same gender.
Getting into Parliament: For a political party to get seats, it needs to win at least 5% of all the votes. If a group of parties forms an "alliance," they need to win 7% of the votes. This is called an election threshold.
Ensuring Variety: The law says that at least three different political groups must be in parliament. Even if a party doesn't quite reach the threshold, it might still get seats if it's one of the top performers.

Sometimes, if no party wins more than half of the seats in the first election, there might be a second round of voting. This helps make sure a strong government can be formed. The two parties or alliances that did best in the first round can take part in this second vote.

Leaders of the National Assembly

Over the years, many important people have led the National Assembly. Here are some of them:

Speakers of the Parliament of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920)

Avetik Sahakyan (1918–1919)
Avetis Aharonyan (1919–1920)
Hovhannes Kajaznuni (1920)

Chairmen of the Supreme Council (1990–1995)

Levon Ter-Petrosyan (1990–1991)
Babken Ararktsyan (1991–1995)

Presidents of the National Assembly (1995–Present)

Babken Ararktsyan (1995–1998)
Khosrov Harutyunyan (1998–1999)
Karen Demirchyan (1999)
Armen Khachatryan (1999–2003)
Artur Baghdasaryan (2003–2006)
Tigran Torosyan (2006–2008)
Hrayr Karapetyan (acting) (2008)
Hovik Abrahamyan (2008–2011)
Samvel Nikoyan (2011–2012)
Hovik Abrahamyan (2012–2014)
Galust Sahakyan (2014–2017)
Ara Babloyan (2017–2019)
Ararat Mirzoyan (2019–2021)
Alen Simonyan (2021–present)

Vice-Presidents of the National Assembly

Babken Ararktsyan (1990–1991)
Gagik Harutyunyan (1990–1991)
Ara Sahakian (1991–1998)
Artashes Tumanyan (1991–1995)
Karapet Rubinyan (1995–1998)
Albert Bazeyan (1998–1999)
Yuri Bakhshyan (1998–1999)
Ruben Miroyan (1999)
Gagik Aslanian (1999–2003)
Tigran Torosyan (1999–2006)
Vahan Hovhannisyan (2003–2008)
Ishkhan Zakarian (2007)
Arevik Petrosyan (2007–2010)
Hrayr Karapetyan (2008–2009)
Samvel Nikoyan (2009–2012)
Samvel Balasanyan (2010–2012)
Hermine Naghdalyan (2012–2017)
Eduard Sharmazanov (2011–2019)
Arpine Hovhannisyan (2017–2019)
Mikayel Melkumyan (2017–2019)
Alen Simonyan (2019–2021)
Lena Nazaryan (2019–2021)
Vahe Enfiajyan (2019–2021)
Ruben Rubinyan (2021–present)
Hakob Arshakyan (2021–present)

Latest Election Results

Here are the results from the most recent election for the National Assembly, which happened in 2021:

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–

	Civil Contract	688,761	53.95	71	–17
	Armenia Alliance	269,481	21.11	29	New
	I Have Honor Alliance	66,650	5.22	6	New
	Prosperous Armenia	50,444	3.95	0	–26
	Hanrapetutyun Party	38,758	3.04	0	0
	Armenian National Congress	19,691	1.54	0	0
	Shirinyan-Babajanyan Alliance of Democrats	19,212	1.50	0	0
	National Democratic Pole	18,976	1.49	0	New
	Bright Armenia	15,591	1.22	0	–18
	5165 National Conservative Movement Party	15,549	1.22	0	New
	Liberal Party	14,936	1.17	0	New
	Homeland of Armenians Party	13,130	1.03	0	New
	Armenia is Our Home Party	12,149	0.95	0	New
	Democratic Party of Armenia	5,020	0.39	0	0
	Awakening National Christian Party	4,619	0.36	0	New
	Free Homeland Alliance	4,119	0.32	0	New
	Sovereign Armenia Party	3,915	0.31	0	New
	Fair Armenia Party	3,914	0.31	0	New
	Citizen's Decision	3,775	0.30	0	0
	European Party of Armenia	2,440	0.19	0	New
	Freedom Party	1,844	0.14	0	0
	Rise Party	1,233	0.10	0	New
	United Homeland Party	964	0.08	0	New
	All-Armenian National Statehood Party	803	0.06	0	New
	National Agenda Party	719	0.06	0	New
Total		1,276,693	100.00	106	–25

Valid votes		1,276,693	99.63
Invalid/blank votes		4,682	0.37
Total votes		1,281,375	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,595,334	49.37
Source: news.am, CEC, Hetq

Committees: How the National Assembly Works

Birds eye view of National Assembly building

The National Assembly does a lot of its work through special groups called committees. These committees focus on different topics to help make laws and oversee the government.

Standing Committees

The National Assembly has eleven main committees that work all the time. They are called "standing committees" because they are permanent. They deal with important areas like:

Defense and Security
Economic Affairs
European Integration
Financial and Budgeting Affairs
Foreign Relations
Health Care and Social Affairs
Human Rights and Public Affairs
Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport
State and Legal Affairs
Territorial Administration, Local Self-Government, Agriculture and Environment
Territorial Integration

Temporary and Inquiry Committees

In 2015, Armenia's Constitution was updated. This change made it clearer how committees work. Now, there are two special types of committees: temporary committees and inquiry committees.

Temporary Committees: These are created for a short time to discuss specific new laws or plans. They give their ideas to the National Assembly.
Inquiry Committees: These are formed if at least 25% of the members ask for one. Their job is to look into important public issues and find facts. They can ask government offices and officials for information, as long as it's not a secret protected by law.

These committees are important tools. They help the National Assembly check on the government's actions and make sure everything is working correctly.

The Committee on Ethics

One special committee is the Committee on Ethics. This committee makes sure that members of the National Assembly follow the rules and act properly.

What it does: The Committee on Ethics checks if members are following rules about not having other jobs that could cause conflicts of interest. It also makes sure members are respectful and follow moral standards.
How it works: Anyone can send a written request to the committee if they think a member has broken a rule. The committee then looks into the issue. They can ask for documents and information from government agencies.
Recent Example: In one case, the committee looked into reports that some members voted for others. The committee found this was against the rules. They suggested changes to prevent this from happening again, and the National Assembly agreed.

Committee on Gas Supply System

Another example of a special committee was the Ad hoc Committee on Studying the Activity of the Gas Supply System in Armenia. This committee was set up in 2014.

Its purpose: This committee looked into many things about how natural gas was supplied in Armenia. This included checking gas prices, how consumers were protected, and if there were any issues with gas debts.
Its work: The committee held meetings and gathered information from different government offices. They then shared their findings and ideas with the National Assembly in 2015.