Speaker blames Strong Armenia MPs for violent brawl in parliament

Speaker of Parliament Ruben Rubinyan has held opposition Strong Armenia faction leader Narek Karapetyan and MP Garnik Davtyan responsible for the violent brawl in parliament earlier in the day, while expressing support for the actions of Civil Contract faction MPs.

Rubinyan made the remarks during a press briefing shortly after the incident, which continued in the corridor of the parliament building.

“I strongly condemn the behavior of the Strong Armenia faction leader. Let me remind you that he insulted an MP who was speaking at the podium and then stood up from his seat to hit him. I strongly condemn Strong Armenia faction MP Garnik Davtyan, whose first punch triggered the brawl. I fully support the Civil Contract faction, which did what it did,” Rubinyan said.

The Speaker, a senior member of Civil Contract, recalled his earlier call to maintain rules of conduct in parliament, noting that Civil Contract prefers this approach.

He maintained that ruling faction MPs had responded to actions directed against them.

Addressing criticism that security personnel had been called in too late, Rubinyan denied the allegation and said he had ordered security to intervene the moment the situation escalated. According to him, until that point, the MPs had just been standing and speaking loudly.

“I wanted everyone to see what was happening first. Second, there was no brawl at that point,” he said, adding that he called a recess and summoned security personnel to the chamber after the physical altercation began.

Rubinyan also rejected opposition allegations that the incident had been orchestrated in advance. He countered that he had not instructed opposition MPs to insult or hit the MP who was speaking.

The Speaker said that an investigation into reports of possible involvement by MPs’ aides in the incident was still underway.

“There are claims that bodyguards are actually registered as aides, even though they do not know the most basic rules of conduct. I will take a very strict approach to this matter. Anyone who fails to follow the rules will simply not be allowed to enter the National Assembly, at least,” he said.