YEREVAN — The ruling Civil Contract party has officially nominated Deputy Prosecutor General Anahit Manasyan as its candidate for Human Rights Defender, the party’s parliamentary faction secretary Artur Hovhannisyan announced.
The two opposition factions earlier announced that they would jointly nominate Edgar Ghazaryan, a former Armenian Ambassador to Poland and former Chief of Staff of the Constitutional Court for the position.
Manasyan, 34, was appointed as a deputy prosecutor-general less than five months ago. She previously worked as a deputy rector of Armenia’s Justice Academy and an adviser to two former chairmen of the Constitutional Court. She has also taught constitutional law at Yerevan State University since 2015.
The Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) is elected by parliament in a confirmation vote. The Defender will assume office immediately after having been elected by taking an oath.
The post of the Human Rights Defender has been vacant since Kristinne Grigoryan resigned in late January.
