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 (69) Civil Contract (69) Civil Contract (62) Independent (7) Opposition (36) Armenia Alliance (28) ARF (15) Independent (13) I Have Honor Alliance (6) Republican Party (4) Independent (2) Independent (4)
Length of term	5 years
Elections
Voting system	Two-round majority-minority jackpot 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 (which in Armenian is Azgayin Zhoghov) is also known as the Parliament of Armenia. It is the main law-making body of the government in Armenia. This means it is where new laws are discussed and approved for the country.

What is the National Assembly?
How Members are Chosen
Leaders of the National Assembly
Latest Election Results (2021)
Committees: How the Assembly Works
- Standing Committees
- Special Committees for Specific Tasks
Working with Other Countries
See also

What is the National Assembly?

The National Assembly first started in 1918. It was called the Khorhurd back then. This happened after Armenia declared its independence. It acted as the temporary law-making group for the new nation.

After elections in 1919, more members joined the National Assembly. It had 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 was called the Supreme Council of Armenia. After the Soviet Union ended in 1991, Armenia created a new Constitution in 1995. This led to the National Assembly we have today.

The National Assembly is a unicameral body. This means it has only one main group of members. It usually has at least 101 members. Sometimes, it can have more, up to about 200 members, but this is rare. The person in charge of the National Assembly is called the President. Currently, Alen Simonyan is the President.

How Members are Chosen

Members of the National Assembly are chosen through elections. People vote for political parties, not individual candidates directly. This system is called party list proportional representation.

Four spots in the Assembly are saved for national minorities. These are people from smaller groups living in Armenia.
To make sure there's a good mix, no more than 70% of the top people on a party's list can be of the same gender.

For a party to get seats in the National Assembly, it needs to win at least 5% of all the votes. If groups of parties (called alliances or blocs) join together, they need to win 7% of the votes.

The law says that at least three political groups must be in the parliament. Even if a party or alliance doesn't quite reach the 5% or 7% mark, the ones with the highest percentages will still get seats to make sure there are at least three groups.

If no party wins more than half of the seats in the first election round, and no group forms a strong alliance within six days, there will be a second round of elections. The two parties or alliances that did best in the first round can take part in this second round. The winner of the second round gets extra seats to make sure they have at least 54% of all the seats.

Leaders of the National Assembly

Over the years, many important people have led the National Assembly.

Speakers of the First Republic (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

The Vice-Presidents help the President lead 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 (2021)

The most recent election for the National Assembly was on June 20, 2021. Here's how the political parties did:

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 Assembly Works

Birds eye view of National Assembly building

The National Assembly has different groups called committees. These committees help the Assembly do its work by focusing on specific topics.

Standing Committees

There are eleven main committees that work all the time:

Defense and Security
Economic Affairs
European Integration (working with Europe)
Financial and Budgeting Affairs (money matters)
Foreign Relations (working with other countries)
Health Care and Social Affairs (health and community help)
Human Rights and Public Affairs (people's rights)
Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport
State and Legal Affairs (laws and government rules)
Territorial Administration, Local Self-Government, Agriculture and Environment (local areas, farming, and nature)
Territorial Integration

Special Committees for Specific Tasks

Sometimes, the National Assembly creates special committees for certain jobs. These are called temporary or inquiry committees.

Temporary committees are set up to discuss new laws or ideas. They give their thoughts to the main Assembly.
Inquiry committees 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 groups and officials for information, as long as it's not a secret protected by law.

One example of a special committee was the Committee on Ethics. This committee checks if members of the Assembly follow the rules, like not doing other paid jobs that could cause a conflict of interest. They also make sure members are respectful and follow moral rules. If someone thinks a member broke a rule, they can tell this committee. The committee then looks into the issue and makes a decision.

Another special committee was formed in 2014 to study the gas supply system in Armenia. It looked at things like gas prices and how consumers were protected. This committee gathered information and presented its findings to the National Assembly.

Working with Other Countries

The National Assembly of Armenia works with parliaments in many other countries. This helps them share ideas and work together on important issues. Some of the countries they cooperate with include:

Georgia
France
Egypt
Russia
Kyrgyzstan
Syria
Lebanon

The National Assembly is also part of many international groups that bring parliaments together. These groups include:

NATO Parliamentary Assembly
EU-Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee
Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy
Inter-Parliamentary Union
Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Euronest Parliamentary Assembly
Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie
Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
CIS Interparliamentary Assembly
ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (as an observer)