Head of General Staff of Armenian Armed Forces to become first deputy defence minister Parliament adopts PM's amendments

During the meeting, the Armenian National Assembly has adopted amendments to the law "On Defence" in the final reading.

According to these amendments, the chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces will henceforth have the status of first deputy defence minister, Caliber.Az reports with reference to the Armenian media.

Some 58 MPs voted for the bill on amendments. Opposition factions do not participate in the meeting. 

According to the amendments, although the chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces should become the first deputy defence minister, nevertheless, he would not perform the functions of a minister in his absence.

As for defence procurement, the General Staff of the Armed Forces will not deal with material support issues upon the defence ministry’s instructions. The leadership of the army should focus on defence tasks rather than on economic issues.

“The package of changes is aimed at improving the quality of management in the armed forces, the management model is very important for us. We will be able to get first-hand information about the results of our control,” Defence Minister Suren Papikyan said during the meeting.

The government approved the bill on June 9, 2022. The opposition members were sceptical about the reform. In particular, Head of the "Armenia" opposition faction, former Armenian Defence Minister, war criminal Seyran Ohanyan, said that the goal of the authorities is to turn the post of chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces into a political one.