The Strong Armenia party responded to the incident in the National Assembly by urging the authorities to “stop political provocations and answer substantive questions.”
“When the government has no answers to the most important questions raised by the opposition, it resorts to provocations. Today, Civil Contract representatives once again failed to provide a substantive answer to a key question: Why is TRIPP being launched before the signing of the peace agreement, and what guarantees does Armenia have that yet another unilateral concession will not lead to new demands from Azerbaijan? Instead, they attempted to turn a political debate into personal insults and confrontation.
This is not an isolated incident. When the authorities attempt to silence the opposition through provocations within Armenia while making unilateral concessions in relations with Azerbaijan, the question arises: whose interests does this approach actually serve?
We urge Nikol Pashinyan and his Civil Contract team to stop political provocations and answer substantive questions. At the same time, we reaffirm that all provocations will receive a proportionate response. Strong Armenia will not allow personal insults and organized provocations to divert public attention from fundamental issues concerning Armenia’s security and sovereignty,” the statement said.
A physical altercation broke out in the National Assembly between lawmakers from Civil Contract and Strong Armenia following a speech by Civil Contract representative Taron Chakhoyan. A verbal dispute escalated into a brawl, during which National Assembly Deputy Speaker Vahagn Aleksanyan threw a chair toward opposition lawmakers.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, commenting on the confrontation during the parliamentary session, expressed support for the actions of the Civil Contract faction.
“I condemn violence, but I support the measures taken today by the Civil Contract faction. Just because someone is in the opposition does not mean they can behave insolently. Whether it was with a chair or something else, it was proportionate and justified,” he said.
