Armenian Authorities Are Subjected to Daily Violence, PM Pashinyan Says in Comment on Parliament Brawl

YEREVAN (Arka.am) — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has accused today MP Edmon Marukyan, the leader of the Bright Armenia party, of being an integral part of a scheme designed by former ruling regimes to sustain moral, psychological and physical damages to his administration.

The prime minister dubbed Marukyan as a ‘provocateur’, blaming him for a brawl that occurred earlier today in the parliament between members of the Bright Armenia faction and members of the ruling My Step bloc.

When speaking from the parliament rostrum, Marukyan accused Babken Tunyan, a deputy from the My Step faction, of meanness and of bringing tension to the parliament. Another MP from My Step, Sasun Mikaelyan, tried to shout him down. Marukyan asked not to call him “uncle”, and a few minutes later he left the rostrum, heading towards Mikaelyan, who stood up and hit Marukyan. The fight resulted in a massive brawl with lawmakers pushing and shoving each other.

“For two years now, the revolutionary team, including the parliamentary majority and the government, have been subjected to moral and psychological violence. Women deputies are threatened with rape, their children are beaten in the streets and the most deceitful information about My Step MPs is disseminated. All this pursues one goal – to weaken and destroy the political majority, as well as the trust between it and the public,” Pashinyan said.

“What happened is a provocation. I also condemn the parliamentary majority that succumbed to the provocations” he said.

Pashinyan recalled a question asked in the past by Marukyan, who wanted to know if the opposition would be “beaten in the hallways”.

“They want to provoke us, to equate us with killers, divert us from our values, unbalance us,” Pashinyan said, adding that today there is an exceptional situation when the authorities are becoming victims of violence by criminal groups. He again emphasized that he condemns the incident and personally condemns himself, as well as Sasun Mikaelyan.

“I consider what happened today as our and my personal biggest defeat that we had after the revolution. But let this not give anyone any hope, because we lost many times and saw the smirk of lies – today we also saw it. Our will is strong, it is made of stone, our soul does not know what giving up is,” the prime minister said.

“You have no chance whatsoever to take away the power that belongs to the people of Armenia,” he said.