Haykuhi Harutiunian was elected by the previous National Assembly as chairwoman of the Commission on Prevention of Corruption for a four-year term in November 2019. Armenia’s government and ruling Civil Contract party were expected to back her reelection until recently.
However, Armenian media reported last month that during a meeting with Harutiunian held behind the closed doors some parliamentarians affiliated with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s party complained about the commission’s actions taken against them, their relatives or friends.
Speaking in the parliament on Wednesday, Harutiunian said that “up to 25” Civil Contract deputies have been investigated for possible conflict of interest or inaccurate asset declarations submitted to the commission.
Many pro-government deputies openly attacked Harutiunian during a two-day heated debate on her candidacy. Some of them claimed that members of her own family did not file such declarations for two years, while another said Harutiunian arranged for her sister to hold a “seminar” for the anti-graft watchdog’s members and staffers.
“My sister has never participated in any activity financed by the commission,” a visibly angry Harutiunian insisted on Thursday.
She was also attacked by Arsen Torosian, another Pashinian ally who was investigated in 2020 in his then capacity as health minister. Harutiunian accused Torosian at the time of conflict of interest stemming from a lucrative procurement contract awarded by him to a company owned by his wife. Other commission members disagreed with her at the time.
Torosian claimed on Thursday that the probe was politically motivated. “Ms. Harutiunian, if that campaign continues -- and it appears to be continuing -- please look for other heroes,” he said.
“You are not my hero,” shot back the anti-corruption official. “I’m afraid you can never become one.”
Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers defended Harutiunian. One of them, Artsvik Minasian, praised her “political will” to fight against corruption and accused the authorities of seeking to “usurp” the body scrutinizing the declared assets of the country’s leading state officials.
Not surprisingly, the parliament’s pro-government majority blocked Harutiunian’s re-appointment by boycotting an ensuing vote.
Several Armenian civic organizations expressed serious concern over such a prospect earlier this week. In a joint statement, they urged Civil Contract’s parliamentary group not to “succumb to the desires of a few members driven by self-interest” and to delay the vote.
Pashinian has repeatedly claimed to have eliminated “systemic corruption” in Armenia. However, members of his entourage are increasingly accused by media outlets of enriching themselves or their cronies and breaking their anti-corruption promises given during the 2018 “velvet revolution.” There are also growing questions about integrity in public procurement administered by the current government.