YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The candidacy of chairman of the Control Chamber has not yet been discussed at sittings of neither the political coalition nor the parliamentary factions, member of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) faction Eduard Sharmazanov stated at the October 5 briefing, noting that under the Constitution, the power of nominating the candidate for this post is reserved for the president of the country. To recap, as a result of the 2005 constitutional amendments, the Control Chamber (CC) currently functioning under the jurisdiction of the National Assembly (NA) will soon become an independent body. The new chairman of the CC must be appointed within 5 months after the opening day of the first session of the NA of fourth convocation, that is, until November 7 of this year. The NA will apppoint the chairman of the CC for a 6-year term at the recommendation of the Armenian president. It is noteworthy that in recent period the press indicated among possible candidates for this post the former NKR president Arkady Ghukasina, the chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Tigran Sargsian, the NA vice speaker Ishkhan Zakarian who was elected a deputy on the list of "Prosperous Armenia" party, and some others. Attaching importance to the role of the CC (to be formed soon) in the fight against corruption, the head of the ARF faction Hrayr Karapetian said that the ARF is "no doubt willing to make its contribution to activities of this body, but in what form - it will become clear in the future." In response to the question about his ambition to be the chairman of the CC, he stated that the party does not avoid responsibility. "In general, we have ambitions for the post of the country's president, let alone for the post of CC chairman," he stated.

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