Parliamentary opposition boycotts session of Armenia's National Assembly
The parliamentary opposition, represented by the factions of the "Armenia" and "With Honor" blocs — the "Strong Armenia" and "Armenia" blocs — boycotted the session of the National Assembly on August 25.
The day before, deputies from "Strong Armenia" walked out of the session hall over statements by the country's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and deputies from the ruling "Civil Contract" party.
The Prime Minister, while presenting the draft government program from the National Assembly rostrum, deliberately referred several times to Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II by his secular name, which from the standpoint of church tradition is a most egregious insult and a display of disrespect. In response, opposition deputies began banging on their desks in protest. However, this only egged on Pashinyan, who repeated his words several times, and he was supported by deputies from the ruling party. They began clapping and mocking the opposition. As a result, the deputies from "Strong Armenia" left the parliament's session hall.
In addition, this morning the Anti-Corruption Committee reported that, within the framework of criminal proceedings, searches and other procedural actions had been carried out at several dozen addresses. The searches, in particular, took place at the homes of Armenia's second president, Robert Kocharyan, and his son, parliament deputy Levon Kocharyan. The president himself and his elder son were taken to the Anti-Corruption Committee and were detained.
On August 24, a verbal altercation took place in parliament between Levon Kocharyan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The latter, directly from the National Assembly rostrum, promised to seize all of the deputy's property, stating that he would not be able to pass it on as an inheritance to his children and grandchildren. The outcome of all these actions is the absence from the National Assembly session of the parliamentary faction and the opposition "Armenia" bloc.
Source: news.am
