The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Supreme Council of Armenia announced today that former ARF Member of Parliament Aghvan Vardanyan has been expelled from the party.
Axar.az informs citing Armenian media.
The announcement comes a day after Vardanyan officially resigned from his parliamentary post, following the ARF Supreme Council’s call for his resignation on May 1.
In his address to Armenia’s National Assembly on Tuesday, Vardanyan said that he would not vote for the sole candidate for prime minister—the “Yelk” faction’s Nikol Pashinyan—even though the ARF had announced that it would be supporting the opposition leader’s candidacy.
Vardanyan noted in his address that he is willing to step down from his parliamentary post for stepping out of party line.
“The ARF Supreme Council of Armenia announces that ARF parliamentary faction member Aghvan Vardanyan’s decision was a personal one, which is not in line with the ARF’s official stance,” read a part of the announcement released by the Supreme Council shortly after Vardanyan’s remarks. “There has been a gross violation of [party] discipline, which will be investigated. Accordingly, the ARF Supreme Council of Armenia calls for Aghvan Vardanyan to step down from his parliamentary post,” the announcement concludes.