The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan addressed the incident that took place this morning from the podium of the National Assembly a short while ago. Before that, however, he congratulated everyone on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the liberation of Shushi, as well as the 2nd anniversary of the victory of the non-violent, velvet, popular revolution of 2018.
“My concluding speech was to concern the discussions that took place and the report on the progress and results of the government’s programme, but I cannot fail to address everything that is happening and has happened in this hall and what took place this morning before all our eyes.
I want to underscore my attitude unambiguously and unequivocally by saying that I condemn any manifestation of violence in all its forms. I want to emphasise: violence in all its forms. Because violence is not only physical, but also moral and psychological. It must be stated very directly that for already 2 years the revolutionary group, including this parliamentary majority and this government, has been consistently and continuously subjected to moral and psychological violence.
I apologise for saying this, but the female deputies of the parliamentary majority are threatened on social networks with rape, their children are threatened with being killed in the streets, the most recent false, repulsive information is being spread about the deputies representing the ‘My Step’ faction of the National Assembly, and all this has one purpose: to humiliate the political majority, to undermine the political majority, to destroy the trust that exists between the people and the political majority.
And, yes, yesterday the leader of the ‘Bright Armenia’ faction invited me for coffee, and I accepted the invitation, I went down to my former office, where Mr. Marukyan now sits, and I said directly that, yes, Mr. Marukyan, we all have reason to suspect that you and your activities are an inseparable part of that whole programme of deploying psychological, moral violence and, ultimately, physical violence, and I, having watched the video of what happened this morning today, ask a simple question. The incident, which is condemnable, took place right there,” said the Prime Minister, pointing to the scene of the incident.
He then raised the question of what business the deputy who spoke had in that area. “When he was coming down from the podium and walking at great speed towards deputy Sasun Mikaelyan, why was he going — to conduct a political dialogue? Even if Sasun Mikaelyan had moved, where is the certainty that he, simply expressing his indignation in his own way, would not have left this hall? I cannot call what happened anything other than a provocation, a repulsive provocation, if you will forgive me.”
“I condemn the fact that we give in to provocations. I condemn my brother, my friend, because we have no right to give in to provocations,” — referring to Sasun Mikaelyan, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan declared this from the podium of the National Assembly.
Continuing to address the incident that took place in the morning, the Prime Minister stressed that they constantly, every day, want to divert them from their values.
“From this podium that same man was telling us: will you beat people in the courtyards of buildings? They want to turn us into their beaters, they want to equate us with killers (murderers), they want to divert us from our values, they want to throw us off balance. And, yes, today in Armenia an exceptional situation has been established in which the authorities every day become a victim of violence. Every day they become a victim of violence at the hands of the Serzhian, Kocharian criminal group and their parliamentary servants. This is the truth. And I also want to speak from the point of view of law and legality. In the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, bribery is considered a crime, but there is also a separate crime: incitement to bribery. Provocation is as much a crime as its consequences. This is my assessment of today’s incident. And, yes, I condemn us and I condemn myself. And I consider what happened today to be our and my own greatest defeat that we have suffered since the revolution,” Pashinyan declared, stressing that this should not leave anyone triumphant.
On that occasion he recalled the lines he had written on the occasion of the revolution: “I have been defeated, defeated many times and have seen the smirk of lies, but my will is stronger than stone, my spirit knows not surrender.”
Pashinyan noted that, yes, all this is connected with the law on the confiscation of illegally acquired property, about which the head of the ‘My Step’ faction Lilit Makunts had spoken.
The Prime Minister said that all this is connected with numerous and varied criminal cases. “Because, when they return those stolen funds, then from where will those who receive their ‘handouts’ get their ‘handouts’? And a very vital question is being resolved today. Today it is not only the ruling majority that is subjected to violence; the public is subjected to psychological violence. Because they want to put us before a choice: either we must become beaters in the courtyards, or our party colleagues must be afraid to enter the courtyards. We will not allow it, yes, we will lay you down on those ‘asphalts’ in those courtyards. You have no possibility to take from the people of Armenia the power that belongs to the people. I have said 100 times to these people: go and look at hundreds of speeches. Go and see how Edmon Marukyan spoke with Hovik Abrahamyan from this podium, go and see how Edmon Marukyan spoke with Serzh Sargsyan from this podium, and go and see how they speak with the authorities who have the legitimate power of the people, saying that I will speak for a few minutes, I will address the speech, but I regret those few minutes,” he continued.
The Prime Minister stressed: “Violence has no place in our reality, and that incident must never be repeated again.”
Then, continuing his speech, Pashinyan said: “But I want to say again: yes, people, today we were defeated. I condemn you, respected Mr. Mikaelyan, I condemn myself, I condemn us, I condemn [this] in service to the people of the Republic of Armenia, the people of Artsakh and the values that became the driving, leading force of the non-violent, velvet, popular revolution of 2018.”
