The pro-government majority in the National Assembly set up the ad hoc commission in February 2022 with the stated aim of examining the causes of the defeat, assessing the Armenian government’s and military’s actions and looking into what had been done for national defense before the hostilities. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the commission, saying that its primary mission is to cover up Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s wartime incompetence and disastrous decision making.
The commission chairman, Andranik Kocharian, submitted its findings to parliament speaker Alen Simonian more than a month ago. The report was expected to be mostly released and debated during a plenary session of the Armenian parliament later in September. However, Simonian unexpectedly blocked the discussion, saying that the panel breached an 18-month legal limit on its activities. He went on to classify the 215-page report.
The decision means that only parliament deputies with security clearance are allowed read the report but not publicize its details. Gegham Manukian of the opposition Hayastan alliance was the first to do that earlier this week.
Manukian said on Friday that he has already sent written questions stemming from the findings of the parliamentary inquiry to three Armenian law-enforcement agencies. One of the questions relates to “two extremely important assertions that could have the effect of an atomic bomb in Armenia,” he said without elaborating.
“There are many questions regarding [Pashinian’s] strategic decision making and staffing policy,” Manukian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
He insisted that the commission made up of only pro-government parliamentarians failed to “whitewash and put angel wings” on Pashinian. He would not say whether he believes this is the reason why its report was not discussed on the parliament floor.
Kocharian has denied missing any legal deadlines and insisted on the report’s inclusion on the parliament agenda. Some commentators have suggested that Pashinian blocked that because he does not want a renewed public debate on his handling of the war even if Kocharian’s commission was never likely to blame him for the six-week hostilities that left at least 3,800 Armenian soldiers dead. Opposition leaders maintain that Pashinian paved the way for the war with that they see as reckless policies and is primarily responsible for its outcome.
Incidentally, Manukian revealed that the report was signed by four of the six members of the commission affiliated with the ruling Civil Contract. The two other members could not be reached for comment on Friday.
