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On the initiative of RA National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan Youth Parliament is to be created, about which the Speaker of the National Assembly signed a relevant instruction.

On April 8 RA NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan invited the rectors, chairmen of the students’ councils of Yerevan state higher educational institutions to discuss the elaborated order, to listen to their proposals and viewpoints. The Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan attended the meeting.

Touching upon the idea of Youth Parliament the NA Speaker noted that not only in the parliament, but also with NGOs and political organizations it was discussed. Hovik Abrahamyan highlighted the necessity of discussing it and urged those present to actively express their opinions and views, to make necessary corrections in the prescibed order and call on into life the idea.

The Chairman of the NA Committee on Science, Culture, Youth and Sport Artak Davtyan presented the order of formation and activities of the Youth Parliament and its goals. In his words, the Youth Parliament is a wonderful school of parliamentarism, and it can become a mechanism of self-display and self-expression for youth. Regarding the formation of the parliament, according to the prescribed order, it is designed that it will have 12 committees, 131 deputies, from which 39 will be nominated by the factions represented in the National Assembly with the same correlation, 50 seats are allocated to the state higher educational institutions, 20 seats – to the marzes, 22 seats are designed for se4lf-nominating young people. At least 3 per cent of the MPs of the Youth Parliament shall be the representatives of national minorities. The Youth Parliament shall not have a Speaker: the chairmen of the committees shall head by rotation principle. It is scheduled that the parliament will convene the first sitting in the mid-May of this year.

NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan noted that the committees of the Youth Parliament will take part in the works of the NA standing committees, and they will also debate the issues, included in the agenda and they will submit their recommendations. The NA Speaker also considered important the representation of the representatives of non-state higher educational institutions in the future parliament. By the way, it is designed that the Youth Parliament would function till the end of the 4^th convocation, and the next National Assembly would decide the future activities. Hovik Abrahaamyan considers that the activity of the Youth Parliament shall be continuous.

At the meeting the head of NA RPA faction Galust Sahakyan, the head of the ARF faction Vahan Hovhannisyan, the rectors of the higher educational institutions chairmen of the students’ councils presented their interpellations and views, proposals and opinions.

Summing up the discussion NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan urged those present to submit their all proposals and remarks to the NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, where they would be debated, and as a result of which, the order of formation and activities of the Youth Parliament would get its final shape.