On May 12, 2007, three MP's were elected on the proportional ballot in Armavir Marz - Setrak (Seyran) Saroyan (19th District), Hrant Grigoryan (20th District) and Rustam Gasparyan (21st District). None have ever spoken from the podium in the National Assembly or have they ever raised issues of concern affecting their constituents with the government. We tried to find out what they thought on certain issues of interest to us and the people residing in their districts. In the end, we weren't able to talk with the MP's and we were only able to exchange a few words with Hrant Grigoryan. No one picked up the telephone at MP Seyran Saroyan's office at the National Assembly. To get in touch with him, we had to call up his father, Firdus Saroyan. "Seyran is not in Armenia. He left on Monday and I have no idea when he will be back," said the father. We should point out that it has been nearly impossible to track down the MP who holds the rank of Major-General. He always attempts to avoid encounters with the press. Mr. Saroyan represents the town of Echmiadzin and twelve rural communities. He has never met with residents in the district. At best, voters have had the rare chance to meet with him at various community functions in Echmiadzin, and only when General Manvel Grigoryan is present. MP Hrant Grigoryan, who represents forty rural communities, also has a distaste for members of the press. During his 2003-2007 term in office, MP Grigoryan would organize weekly audiences with his constituents. He would been seen handing out cash. On holidays, vegetable oil, along with other food and drink, were the presents of choice. MP Grigoryan was also known to hand out fire wood to needy families during the winter months. Such meetings with the voters came to an end in 2007. Today, such largesse on his part is a rarity. Several months back, we spent weeks on end trying to set up a meeting with MP Grigoryan, but to no avail. He would always call off the whatever appointments we had made. In the end, he said he really had no desire to speak with us. At the time, the MP's Income and Property Declaration was published without any commentary by him. This time around, the MP had a deep-seated grudge for the Hetq reporter from the start, based on that prior article. What follows is the conversation we were able to have with MP Grigoryan. - I have a few questions related to your actions in office. Will you answer them? - You wrote about me once already. What other questions do you have? - Fine, I wrote about you once. It doesn't mean that I don't have other questions, right? - You can write or not write; no matter to me. - Just a few questions then about... (question interrupted) - I won't respond over the phone. - OK, where shall we meet? - There's a National Assembly session on the 7th. Be there and I'll answer your questions. - So you will not answer any questions outside the parliament building? - I will answer questions outside the parliament. Come to the session chamber area. I'll answer your questions there. - Can't we meet sooner than this? - Not possible. I'm very busy. - I just have a few questions. Can't you answer them now? - Fine, ask me. - Residents of the villages in your district complain that you never visit their communities and grant them an audience...(again my question is interrupted). - That's it. You are already veering off into other issues, said MP Grigoryan and hung up the phone. I asked Razmik Margaryan, Mayor of the village of Yeghegnut in MP Grigoryan's district, when was the last time that the legislator had visited them and why. Mayor Margaryan, couldn't remember the exact day, but claimed that the MP visited the village about one month ago. He said the MP had visited Yeghegnut after the villagers had complained that farming was no longer generating any income and that the heavy rains and hail had damaged this year's crop. When I asked if the MP often visited the village, Mayor Margaryan answered about once or twice a year. "He helps out the school a lot. On May 9, his delegation headed by Hamlet Aleksanyan came to the village. He gave 150,000 AMD in assistance to a family whose mud-brick house had collapsed," Mayor Margaryan said. Mayor Margaryan also said that the MP meets with district residents at his office in the village of Tzaghkunk and that he saw the MP there on 2-3 occasions. "I see no problem. I call him up and he designates a day and time for the meeting. We go and meet with him," said Mayor Margaryan, adding that he is informed whenever a village resident meets with the MP. He said that local residents rarely make the trip. We made several unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with Rustam Gasparyan, another MP from Armavir Marz. We dialed his cell number and a male voice answered. When I said I was a reporter, the man asked what my business was with the MP and what did we wanted to discuss. I answered that we wanted to discuss the MP's performance in office, his visits to communities in his district and meetings with local residents. After a few moments of silence, the man on the other end replied, "To be honest, there's a debate going on right now. Call back a bit later." We did call back later on, but no one answered this time. MP Gasparyan remained "out of touch". The village of Tandzout lies with MP Gasparyan's district. Mayor Gnel Stepanyan said that the last time the MP visited was on exam day, the last day of school. When I asked if the MP didn't travel to the village at other times, the mayor became visibly irritated and said, "Why are you asking me such things. Go talk to the MP. Ask him whatever other questions you have. So what if he doesn't visit? Whenever he comes is more than enough." Nevertheless, Mayor Stepanyan couldn't tell me when the MP had visited their village other than on the last day of classes, or why.