Nikol Pashinyan, MP from the Armenian National Congress (ANC) Faction, has refused to sign the statement prepared jointly with the representatives of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA). To note, on Tuesday evening the Armenian Parliament convened an extraordinary session to adopt the text of the statement condemning the attack on MP Aram Manukyan. The text was prepared by ARF Dashnaktsutyun and the RPA.
Pashinyan said that he cannot vote for adoption of the statement, because he does not believe in the RPA members' sincerity, given the bumptious behavior of many RPA members at the parliamentary hearings. In this context, Pashinyan urged Head of the RPA Faction Vahram Baghdasaryan to launch a campaign against illiteracy of RPA parliamentarians and to explain to them the difference between the Parliament and a horse stable. "I cannot sign the statement prepared jointly with some hooligans. This condemning statement is just a method to let off steam and the calls for tolerance are just obvious fraud", said Pashinyan.
For his part, Armen Rustamyan, Head of the ARFD Faction, said that Pashinyan's approach is primitive and that one should not label a political force only because some representatives of that force have an inappropriate conduct.
To recall, the unknown burned cars of four oppositionists lately, beaten up three Artsakh War veterans who harshly criticized the authorities, and attacked oppositionist parliamentarian Aram Manukyan and later his comrade Ashot Piliposyan. All these people claim that the authorities are behind those incidents. On 15 December, the Police detained Arshak Svazyan (born in 1973) suspected of beating Aram Manukyan. It is widely rumored by local media outlets that Svazyan is the former driver of Arakel Movsisyan (Shmays), MP from Republican Party of Armenia. Meanwhile, Movsisyan denies these reports and swears that he bears no relation to the attack on Manukyan.