Months ago, I asked the Public Affairs Department at the RA National Assembly to supply a list of names of the staff assistants for the MP’s.

I had noticed during my visits to the legislature that many MP’s were employing relatives on a paid basis while other young people were registered as “social” servants.

I even asked a few MP’s why they had chosen relatives to fill such posts. A few were so taken aback with shame that they requested that I not publish the names of their children so employed. They promised that staff changes would be made.

But they proved cleverer than I could ever imagine. What the MP’s simply did is to register their children in the employ of fellow MP’s. No change was made in the type of employment registration.

For example, Prosperous Armenian Party (PAP) MP Arshak Mkhitaryan sent his child to work for his friend, MP Grigori Margaryan, as an assistant.

Assistants working on a salaried basis get 90,000 AMD per month. I don’t believe that the MP’s need the money so badly that they get their kids jobs as legislative assistants to help feed and clothe their families.

Rafik Grigoryan, a Republican Party MP, got a job for his son as an advisor/assistant with his buddy Samvel Nikoyan, Deputy President of the National Assembly and also a Republican Party member.

MP Grigoryan likes to avail himself of all available government budgetary possibilities.

Areg Ghukasyan, brother of former Artsakh President Arkady Ghukasyan, has gotten a job for his son on a salaried basis with Gagik Minasyan, President of the Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs.

MP Ghukasyan is another legislator that really doesn’t need the salary. In 2009, he reported revenues of 354 million AMD. He owns several commercial enterprises including the Yerevan salt mine.

Another Republican Party MP, Gagik Melikyan, can count on the income of his daughter, employed as his only assistant. Perhaps the family actually needs the extra income. In 2009, Melikyan reported a paltry 3.6 million AMD in property and revenue.

MP Karineh Ajemyan also employs her daughter as an assistant. The legislator told Hetq that the practice was legal and that, in any event, her daughter is educated and well prepared to help out.

“I hired my daughter because she assists me and even works during evening hours. She gets experience from working with me. It’s a win-win situation for both of us,” said Ajemyan.

There’s MP Vazgen Karakhanyan, who’s also hired his daughter as a personal assistant. Reporting only 3.5 million AMD in income in 2009 it seems the family could use the extra cash.

PAP faction secretary Aram Safaryan has hired his son as his only assistant.

There are MP’s who hire their kids to work in the parliament not for the money but rather for the “prestige”.

MP Karo Karapetyan has two assistants, one being his daughter. MP Manvel Badeyan, who also has no need for another income source, nevertheless hired his daughter at 90,000 monthly.

Parliamentary assistants who work on a “public” basis also get paid but their employment isn’t included in any future pension calculations.

Only MP Viktor Dallakyan has hired his son on a public basis.

While some of the children hired by their daddy and mommy MP’s actually are good at their jobs, the question remains.

Is it all a case of nepotism?