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On Tuesday, the ruling and opposition MPs were fiercely assaulted and abused in Armenia’s National Assembly (Parliament). The already stressful political atmosphere in Armenia was heated up after the incident.
The case began when a proposal was being debated on the abolition and arrest of opposition MP Artur Sargsyan.
The ruling party, citing criminal allegations on Sangasyan, demanded his arrest by abolishing his parliamentary exemption. However, details of these allegations were not given.
The opposition called the proposal inspired by a sense of revenge and trying to crush the voice of the opposition. Soon after the session started, abuses, push and scuffle started.
In viral video on social media, MPs are seen running punches and throwing bottles at each other. After this, the security guards intervened and controlled the matter.
Watch the video of assault in Parliament here
Sangasyan said- Desh became a stronghold of dictatorship
In his speech, Sangsyan said that Armenia has become a “stronghold of dictatorship”, where everything is already fixed, written and approved. Prime Minister Nicole Pasinyan’s government is taking action by accusing the opposition leaders of trying to attach a coup.
Earlier on Monday, Pashinayan said that he would liberate the Armenian Apostolic Church from “anti-Christian, adulterer, anti-national and anti-state” leadership, followed by two opposition leaders in Parliament, former Defense Minister Seyan Ohanayana and Artswick Minasayan to end the parliamentary discounts.
After this, the path of criminal action against both of them was cleared, however it is still pending to end the exemption of Sangasyan and take them into custody.
Parliament’s Deputy Chairman Ruben Rubinayan postponed the Parliament session after seeing the tension. (File photo)
Things worsened after defeat in war with Azerbaijan
Armenia had suffered defeat in the Nagorno-Karkabakh war against Armenia in 2020, after which the country’s politics has remained unstable. Armenia was attacked by Azerbaijan in 2020.
After the war that lasted about six weeks, Azerbaijan won a unilateral victory and took a large part of the disputed area. More than 6,500 people from both countries were killed in this war.
Russia had to come forward for a ceasefire. Since this defeat, the pressure of opposition has been increasing on Prime Minister Nicole Pashinian and his civil contract party.
The opposition party, especially the ‘Armenia alliance’, is accusing the government of misusing the constitution and weakening the democracy.
Why the conflict between Azerbaijan-Armenia
The Nagorno-Karbakh area has been the cause of a dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan for more than 20 years. No country recognizes it as an independent country.
Since 1988, both Eurasian countries want to capture Nagorno-Karbakh area. The region is internationally part of Azerbaijan, but has occupied Armenia’s ethnic groups since 1994. It is an important strategic (strategic) area on the border of Iran, Russia and Türkiye in the South Caucasus.