Armenian parliament deputy speaker calls for self-reflection after confrontation with opposition
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Armenian Parliament Deputy Speaker Vahagn Aleksanyan, a member of the Civil Contract party, has acknowledged the legitimacy of some concerns raised by opposition lawmakers following a confrontation in parliament that led to Strong Armenia MP Davit Ghazinyan being removed from the chamber.
The incident occurred on Aug. 19 when tensions rose in parliament after Aleksanyan, who was presiding over the session, sought to respond to remarks by Arega Hovsepyan, a candidate for chair of the Committee on European Integration and an MP from the Strong Armenia faction. At that point, Ghazinyan responded from his seat and urged the presiding officer not to respond from his seat after every speech. Aleksanyan first issued a warning to Ghazinyan and then decided to remove him from the chamber, calling security.
“Dear colleagues, I consider it important to say something regarding what happened yesterday. In general, self-reflection, in my opinion, is a mandatory and extremely important component for a politician. I watched yesterday’s sessions again and listened to the concerns you voiced both in the chamber and outside it. At least some of them had a certain degree of legitimacy, and conclusions will be drawn from them. That is the first point. Secondly, I also ask that this self-reflection be mutual, because I am confident that if you look at it as well, you will find areas for self-reflection on your part too. So I think we will be able to restore the normal course of our work,” Aleksanyan said at the start of the Aug. 20 session, addressing Ghazinyan.
Ghazinyan also requested to speak on a procedural matter. He urged the parliamentary leadership to be more responsive to MPs’ proposals regarding the conduct and regulation of sessions, assuring that such incidents would not occur if this were the case.