Narek Karapetyan  does not rule out becoming head of the "Strong  Armenia" faction

ArmInfo. Narek Karapetyan, a member of the political council of the "Strong Armenia" bloc, has not ruled out the possibility that he may become the head of their parliamentary faction. He made this statement on July 24 when  speaking to reporters.

Specifically, he noted that such matters are  currently on their agenda and that an official statement will be made  in the near future.  "We will make a statement soon, but I do not  deny that it could be me," Karapetyan said.

"There were no grounds whatsoever for choosing such a preventive  measure against me—neither for the bail nor for anything else. This  is nothing more than an expression of pressure on a political force  aimed at restricting the activities of its key representatives in  parliament," the politician believes.

Karapetyan further noted that any attempts to strip him of his  immunity through parliament after August 2 will face appropriate  pushback. "They can do it, but we have come quite a long way, we are  young, and we have every opportunity to put them in their proper  place," the "Strong Armenia" political council member concluded.

Recall, on July 21, attorney Aram Vardevanyan announced that the  General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia had submitted a petition to  the Central Election Commission (CEC) to strip Narek Karapetyan of  his immunity. The lawyer pointed out that members of parliament are  endowed with additional immunity, expressing his conviction that the  attempt to strip Karapetyan of his parliamentary immunity is an act  of political absurdity and persecution designed to undermine his work  in the Armenian parliament.

On July 22, the CEC granted consent to initiate criminal proceedings  against Narek Karapetyan, though it rejected the petition seeking  permission for his detention. On July 23, the press service of the  General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia reported that travel  restrictions and a bail of 1 billion drams ($2,748,000) had been  selected as preventive measures against Karapetyan.