As it is known, the Bright Armenia faction boycotted all National Assembly sessions after the fight that broke out in parliament.
The head of the faction, Edmon Marukyan, announced on Monday, “I want to note that we are expecting political commentary after the fight in parliament, which did not take place and was even justified by the highest levels. Opposition members and critics were deemed provocative. Now we have been labeled on different platforms as being provocative with our criticism. The current authorities have completely distracted themselves from the values of the revolution: democracy, freedom of speech, respect for opposition… This is already the reality. Secondly, on Saturday, the Special Investigative Service shared a press release saying that the criminal case was rejected based on evidence. We did not file a complaint; they filed a case based on articles written in the media. They called us in to give an explanation. I and members of our party went in, and members of My Step as well, I believe. In the end, they said that the case was dismissed because both sides assaulted each other. Now they made this into a joke. They’re saying that if ten people are beating one person, and everyone hits once, then a criminal case will not be opened.”
According to Marukyan, the authorities are justifying stabbing people in the back. The legal processes are not upholding people’s rights if a member of the opposition is assaulted and it is given a different evaluation than if a member of the ruling party was assaulted.
Marukyan announced, “They should not be led to believe that they can cause Bright Armenia to deviate from its political agenda.” He said that the voices of their voters will be heard in parliament and on other platforms, and, if anyone thought that assault would cause them to stay quiet, that will not happen, let people be disappointed.
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Mane Tandilyan also said that what their family members and children saw was a terrible image of what takes place in the legislative body. She continued, “Democracy will not surrender in Armenia. But every attempt at implying that saying this is dangerous is already dangerous in and of itself.”
When asked about how they said that they need guarantees for their safety and if they have those guarantees, Marukyan said that he was not given any guarantees. “It is possible for anyone to stab us in the back. We need to be careful and look in front of us and behind us. Our nation knows that if something is not condemned, it can happen again, it is even encouraged.”
Hripsime Jebejyan
