Shatirian implied that Vladimir Vartanian was elected the court’s chairman as a result of government pressure exerted on other justices. Vartanian, who was until recently affiliated with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, denied such pressure.
The position became vacant last month after its previous holder, Arman Dilanian, completed his six-year term in office. The court’s nine judges have since voted for four times to pick his replacement, with Shatirian and Vartanian being the only candidates. The latter eventually received five votes needed for succeeding Dilanian.
Shatirian was quick to announce that he is resigning as deputy chairman but will continue to serve as a judge.
“About six and a half years later, we have come full circle,” he said. “Was this the ultimate goal of the constitutional amendments that happened in June 2020? I personally don’t want to believe this, but the current realities force us to acknowledge it.”
Edgar Shatirian, a member of the Constitutional Court.
The amendments cited by Shatirian mandated the gradual resignation of seven Constitutional Court justices who were locked in a standoff with Pashinian’s political team. Pashinian accused them of maintaining close ties to Armenia’s former government and impeding his “judicial reforms.”
Opposition leaders and other critics countered that Pashinian is only keen to purge the judiciary in order to cement grip on power. They also insisted that the ruling party enacted the amendments in an unconstitutional manner.
Three of the justices at odds with Pashinian had to step down with immediate effect. Shatirian was handpicked by the Armenian government to replace one of them. The government got rid of the four other judges in the following years.
Vartanian, 47, served as the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on legal affairs before fellow pro-government lawmakers elected him as a Constitutional Court judge in March this year. He claimed on Friday that he is no longer guided by partisan or political interests.
Hrayr Tovmasian, a former Constitutional Court chairman deposed by Pashinian’s government in 2020 through the constitutional amendments, headed the same parliament committee during former President Serzh Sarkisian’s rule. Tovmasian was also affiliated with Sarkisian’s Republican Party until being appointed to the court in 2018.
