Armenia’s constitution reserves the position for a representative of the 107-seat parliament’s opposition minority.
Saghatelian was nominated for it by Hayastan and backed by the Pativ Unem bloc, the other opposition force represented in the recently elected National Assembly.
The outspoken opposition leader on Thursday twice failed to get at least 54 votes needed for his election in secret ballots held during a heated parliament debate on his candidacy. The parliament’s pro-government speaker, Alen Simonian, spoke of a “parliamentary crisis” after the second vote.
Opposition lawmakers accused the parliamentary majority representing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party of torpedoing Saghatelian’s appointment.
“If somebody from the ruling faction thinks that by constantly not electing me they can force us to haggle or strike any deals I must say that this is not going to happen,” Saghatelian said on Thursday.
Majority leaders blamed the opposition blocs, which control 36 seats between them, for the outcome of the first two votes.
Saghatelian was elected on third attempt by 64 votes to 37. He pointedly thanked Armenians who voted for Hayastan, rather than pro-government parliamentarians, for his election.
“You gave us a mandate and we are obliged to fully represent you in the National Assembly,” he said, adding that he will continue “not to come to terms with the existing situation” in Armenia.
Saghatelian, 39, is a leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) party, a key component of the opposition alliance headed by former President Robert Kocharian. He was the coordinator of a coalition of more than a dozen opposition groups that staged street protests following Armenia’s defeat in the autumn war with Azerbaijan in a bid to topple Pashinian.
The parliament’s two other deputy speakers, Ruben Rubinian and Hakob Arshakian, are senior members of Civil Contract. They were elected earlier this week in votes boycotted by opposition lawmakers.
Armenian law also entitles opposition lawmakers to heading three of the parliament’s standing committees.
Simonian complained on Thursday that the opposition factions are refusing to discuss with the pro-government majority the distribution of the 12 posts of committee chairperson. Saghatelian made clear that there will no such talks as long as two deputies affiliated with Hayastan remain under arrest on what the opposition calls trumped-up charges.
The opposition blocs officially proposed on Friday the parliament set up a new committee tasked with dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Pativ Unem leader Artur Vanetsian said that would send Azerbaijan and the international community a message that Armenia “has not forgotten about Artsakh (Karabakh) and the people living there.”
Civil Contract’s parliamentary group objected to the proposal.