Tensions flared again in the RA National Assembly

ArmInfo.  Tempers flared once again in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. The reason was a speech by Arman Yeghoyan, an MP from the ruling Civil Contract faction, who launched accusations against the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaksutyun party.

According to him, in order to achieve the goals set out in the preamble to the new text of the oath of government members, Dashnakism must be eradicated within the ruling party. In general, Yeghoyan stated, Dashnakism must be eradicated from political thought down to its very roots, which is a fundamental prerequisite for the sustainable  development, independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia.

During his speech, the ruling-party MP became so agitated that he began shouting at the opposition, in particular at MP

Kristine Vardanyan, stating that she should become the last representative of the ARF.  This  clearly pleased the Civil Contract MPs, who began applauding Yeghoyan’s speech.

During the latter’s speech, opposition Armenia alliance MP Artur Khachatryan began shouting from his seat. Before that, National Assembly Speaker Ruben Rubinyan, who had not intervened in what was happening, was forced to call on Yeghoyan to calm down and continue his speech in a composed tone.

Speaking next, Artur Khachatryan noted that with his speech Arman Yeghoyan had confirmed the claims made by the opposition: when the Republic of Armenia was being established, there were two approaches to state-building—the approach of the Armenian National Movement (ANM) and the approach of the ARF Dashnaksutyun.  “The ANM approach was: ‘No, we are starting from scratch.’ They did not even want to include the issue of the Armenian Genocide in the Declaration, and accepted the connection with the First Republic only on the basis of democratic traditions. And there was the Dashnaksutyun approach, which was that all this—the state structure—we must build on a national foundation.  And here, the ANM produced someone who, in his rhetoric, is no different from the Turks. Just as the Turks said that only one Armenian should remain, and that one in a museum, so you say that one person should remain (Kristine Vardanyan—Ed.), and that one—the last.  So stand in front of a mirror and try to find common sense in your words, which is very difficult, but the similarity to the Turks is 100 out of 100,” Artur Khachatryan stated.

Kristine Vardanyan herself also responded to Yeghoyan’s speech.  “During your passionate speech, your heart nearly stopped; I was already going to bring you valerian. Calm down a little and think at least about your health.  But I want to say thank you. Strange as it may seem, Mr. Yeghoyan, thank you for your sincerity and for removing your masks. Because no matter how much you fight against the Dashnaksutyun party and its ideology, it will only become stronger. You delivered a literally and word-for-word fascist speech from this rostrum. Yes, just as the Turks wanted to leave only one Armenian in the world, simply to show that such a nation had existed, you repeated exactly the same thing, word for word. But just as the Turks failed to achieve success with their program, nothing will come of it for you either,” Kristine Vardanyan emphasized.