Armenia’s Ombudsman: Parliament Should Be a Platform for Democratic Discussions, Not a “Battlefield”

ArmInfo.  Armenian Ombudsman Anahit Manasyan responded to today’s brawl in the Armenian parliament, strongly condemning the incident involving lawmakers.

"The Ombudsman confirms that parliament must be a platform for democratic discussions, not a "battleground." Any manifestation of violence by high-ranking officials, including lawmakers, contributes to the spread of approaches that perceive violence as a means of resolving disagreements in society and justify it. Excluding violence from public discourse and behavior is the responsibility of government officials," Manasyan’s statement says.

She demanded the exclusion not only of behavior implying violence, but also of any speech justifying violence.

"The incident must be properly investigated in accordance with the procedure established by law. Such incidents further aggravate approaches that justify violence, the unacceptability of which the Human Rights Defender emphasized today in a statement published in connection with public discussions on preventing domestic violence," Manasyan added.

It should be noted that on October 29, an altercation erupted in the Armenian parliament following insulting remarks by Taron Chakhoyan, a lawmaker from the ruling "Civil Contract" faction, about the family of Narek Karapetyan, head of the "Strong Armenia" faction. The verbal exchange first escalated into a scuffle between lawmakers and then into a brawl. Amid the escalating situation, Armenian Parliament Speaker Ruben Rubinyan did not call a recess, but merely urged the lawmakers to decide whether they intended to continue fighting or take their seats. However, the tension not only failed to subside, but intensified further.  The parliament speaker was forced to call in state security service officers to calm the lawmakers. The conflict continued in the parliament corridor. Law enforcement officers had to form a wall between lawmakers from the ruling force and the opposition in order to calm them down.  As a result of the brawl, state property in the session hall was damaged.