Armenia: Parliamentary Opposition Calls for Pashinyan's Resignation
The resignation of Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan is the top priority for the country’s political opposition, even trumping any discussion of the 2021 draft state budget.
Opposition MPs made this clear at today’s start of the next four-day sitting of the National Assembly.
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) faction head Naira Zohrabyan insisted that only the issue on the parliament’s agenda now is the abolition of martial law and Pashinyan's resignation.
"The leader who brought Armenia to its knees before Turkey cannot remain," she said.
BHK MP Mikael Melkumyan said that the commander-in-chief is not in control of the situation, so he must leave.
Melkumyan argued that Pashinyan, as a defeated leader, cannot represent Armenian interests at any upcoming negotiations on Artsakh and therefore must be replaced.
BHK MP Iveta Tonoyan said that her party has called on its supporters not to gather outside the parliament and thus hinder the work inside. Tonoyan hopes that the My Step (Im Kayl) parliamentary majority will be patriotic enough to convene a special sitting, to discuss, in her words, the capitulation document and its consequences.
BHK MP Gorg Petrosyan emphasized that while the budget is an important document, it is not the main issue now and that the ceasefire document should be discussed.
BHK MP Arman Abovyan said that it was wrong to describe the anger people in Armenia now feel as some sort of power struggle
"Nobody cares how many days the prime minister explains why all this happened. Responsibility presupposes consequences. People who brought the country to this state, with its back broken, must be held accountable," said Abovyan.
Bright Armenia Party (LHK) faction MP Karen Simonyan stressed that a defeated leader cannot forge a victory, and that new people and new visions are needed.
Simonyan said the government is responsible not only for what it did, but also for what it did not do, and the government, in its opinion, has done less than more.
LHK MP Gorg Gorgisyan said the government should take responsibility and not try to place the blame for its failures on citizens.
"We will not be able to get back on our feet with systems that have been stripped of their credibility. Those who failed should say so. They must give the Armenian nation the chance to move forward, its head held high,” he said.
Gorgisyan drew parallels between today’s political majority and the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), the party that ruled Armenia for two decades before the 2018 “velvet revolution”.
He said that the HHK was blind to the revolution that had broke out that year and party leaders, failing to control the situation on the streets, confined themselves to giving somber interviews. Gorgisyan accused My Step of doing the same today.
LHK faction head Edmon Marukyan spoke about the document signed on November 9, noting that ten people were taken prisoner after the document was signed.
"The parliament is that body that stands above the prime minister. Since points in that document are being violated, we should be discussing whether to hand over Lachin or not,” Marukyan said, calling on the political majority to convene a special session to discuss the issue.
My Step faction MP Arpine Davoyan, responding to the opposition’s charges, said that no one is shirking their responsibility for what happened.
Davoyan asked why opposition MPs failed to show up at yesterday’s meeting with PM Pashinyan to address their questions directly to him. Davoyan said Pashinyan reaffirmed his responsibility for the military defeat. She accused the opposition of having nothing constructive to offer, except the demand that Pashinyan resigns.
My Step MP Vagharshak Hakobyan described the rhetoric of the opposition as a call for violence. He said that his faction believes in the good judgement of the majority of the people, and they will not take the bait offered by the opposition.
National Assembly Vice-Speaker Lena Nazaryan said the My Step faction takes responsibility for what has happened and that there will be ramifications.
"It is this responsibility that the prime minister signed that trilateral statement, because of which 25,000-30,000 soldiers' lives were saved. Stepanakert was saved by that statement," Nazaryan said.
BHK MPs interrupted Nazaryan’s speech, shouting she was presenting a crime report.
My Step faction leader Lilit Makunts asked for a twenty-minute break, insisting it was impossible to continue working in such a tense situation.
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