The trials in Baku are a farce and, despite this fact, our servicemen have the status of prisoners of war (POWs), and they must enjoy all the rights arising from it, Vladimir Vardanyan, member of ‘My Step’ faction, stated at the National Assembly special session. The MP stressed that Azerbaijan differs from ISIS in only one way.
“Azerbaijan differs from ISIS in only one way, that, unfortunately, it is recognized as a member of the UN, still, and we need to work on this,” says Vladimir Vardanyan, deputy of ‘My Step’ faction of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
MP Naira Zohrabyan also raised the issue of Armenian captives, reminding that 6 days ago the General Staff of Armenia announced that Azerbaijan was being given an hour to return our recently captured servicemen, but that statement did not work.
“Our boys continue to be held captive. The delegation that returned from Moscow to negotiate the border incidents and the recent incidents, in fact, returned empty-handed, because they issued a vague statement,” says Naira Zohrabyan, Member of the ‘Prosperous Armenia’ Faction of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
Babken Tunyan from ‘My Step’ touched upon one of the most discussed topics - bonuses. According to Tunyan, the presented figures that state officials received about $120 million in bonuses in 2020 are false. The MP explained that when looking at the number of employees, one can be sure that each civil servant received an average monthly bonus of AMD 90,000 ($173), if taxes are removed, about AMD 70,000 (about $135).
“Moreover, this amount was distributed not to high-ranking state officials, but to 20 thousand civil servants,” says Babken Tunyan, MP of the ‘My Step’ faction of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
MP Anna Grigoryan, who left ‘My Step’ faction and is now in Robert Kocharyan’s ‘Armenia’ bloc, commented on why the second president refuses to participate in the debate with the participation of all political forces.
“You say why Robert Kocharyan does not come to the debate. A debate with whom, a government during which 70% of Artsakh was handed over, a government under whose rule we had 5,000 victims, 10,000 wounded,” says Anna Grigoryan.
Parliament’s Vice Speaker Alen Simonyan stressed that they do not come to a debate to talk to anyone; the purpose of the debate is to talk to citizens.
“But there is a problem here as well. That person does not know how to write or speak Armenian. How will that person come to the debate? In 1999, Kocharyan signed a document in Istanbul recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan,” National Assembly Vice Speaker Alen Simonyan says.
The head of the third force of the parliament did not ignore the topic of the debate either. According to Edmon Marukyan, while the two sides continue the domestic political conflict, the enemy has entered the territory of Armenia.
“You will continue to settle your accounts with each other, your old and new issues, but we do not have time, our country does not have resources. It is a luxury “to eat each other’s meat” (to fight with each other). If we could afford that luxury until September 27, then we cannot now. And I believe we should have a different situation after June 21,” says Edmon Marukyan, Head of ‘Bright Armenia’ faction of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
The leader of ‘My Step’ faction assured that they are not against the offer of consolidation and solidarity. Lilit Makunts reminded that this is the purpose for which the government initiated snap parliamentary elections. There was a need to analyze and work out the next steps.
“In the recent seven months, such an atmosphere has been generated that it is impossible not to touch upon them. A unique manifestation of sadism is the increasing in the number of victims. A special expression of sadism is to speak of soldiers’ corpses in such a way that it is simply incomprehensible to think for a moment about how relatives feel when they make certain statements for political purposes. It a special expression of sadism not to appreciate that our officers did fight to the death, they fought to the end, and they describe it as handing over lands. Who conducted those negotiations as a result of which Armenia has finally reached the point it reached on September 27,” says Lilit Makunts, Head of the ‘My Step’ Faction of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
Along with political speeches, appeals and announcements, the Parliament did not elect Tatevik Barseghyan today as a member of the Corruption Prevention Commission. Out of 74 deputies who took part in the voting, 66 voted for and 8 against.
