Deputy Candidates Will Not Take Armenian Language Test

According to the RA Constitution and Clause 1 of Article 80 of the RA Electoral Code,  should be proficient in the Armenian language. In order to check the deputies’ knowledge, the idea of taking an exam was introduced, which is practically a formality.

“Those deputies of the new parliament who have not received complete Armenian language secondary education in Armenia will have to take that test before registering their candidacy. By the way, the difficulty level of these tests is identical to that of school final exam tests”, Head of State Language Inspectorate Sergo Yeritsyan had stated.

Presumably, the test will be taken only by the deputy candidates who have never studied the Armenian language in any education institution… However, even in the Soviet times, Armenian was a mandatory subject in all Armenian and NKAO schools.

Some media outlets have discussed the necessity for Arakel Movsisyan, Samvel Aleksanyan, Mher Sedrakyan and others to take that exam. However, if the aforementioned people run for parliamentary elections, they will not take any exams.

Moreover, we did not manage to find a single deputy who does not have secondary, higher or other education in the Armenian language. Even Vardan Oskanyan and Raffi Hovhannisyan, who have studied in the USA, have taken Armenian language courses during their education.

We should add that Arakel Movsisyan graduated from Artsakh State University in 1997, General Seyran Saroyan graduated from Defense Ministry higher academic courses in 1993, General Manvel Grigoryan was accepted to Stepanakert State University in 1993 and graduated from YSU Law Department in 1998.

Hence, it is likely that no deputy candidate will take an Armenian exam during upcoming parliamentary elections.