YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–President Serzh Sarkisian on Monday appointed Arthur Baghdasarian, the leader of the Orinats Yerkir Party, as secretary of his National Security Council.
The National Security Council, which comprises top state officials, discussed and made decisions on key issues such as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict under Armenia’s first President Levon Ter-Petrosian. But the council turned into a largely ceremonial body during Kocharian’s ten-year presidency.
Sarkisian said the body will play a more important role during his term in office on February 29. He said its secretary will occupy "the third or fourth most important position in the republic."
In a separate decree signed on Monday, Sarkisian approved the council’s new composition and instructed Baghdasarian to draft its statutes within one month. The consultative body will now comprise 15 members, including the president of the republic, the prime minister, the parliament speaker, the chairman of the Constitutional Court, the ministers of defense and foreign affairs, the chief of army staff as well as the country’s top law-enforcement officials.
The staff of the National Security Council includes:
1. The President of the Republic of Armenia
2. The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
3. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia
4. The President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia
5. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia
6. The Secretary of the National Security Council
7. The Defense Minister of the Republic of Armenia
8. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
9. The Head of Staff of the Office of the President of the Republic of Armenia
10. The Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia
11. The Director of the National Security Service affiliated to the Government of the Republic of Armenia
12. The Chief of Police of the Republic of Armenia affiliated to the Government of the Republic of Armenia
13. The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, First Deputy Defense Minister
14. The Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
15. The Chairman of the Standing Committee on European Integration of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia