ARF Student Union Members Leave Their Union Ranks

The president of the dissolved "Nikola Aghbalyan" Student Union, Ruben Sogoyan, provided details to journalists today regarding their non-participation in protests demanding the resignation of the Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport, Arayik Harutyunyan, as well as the events that preceded and followed this decision.

The reason for the isolation of students and their expulsion from the union stemmed from the board's refusal to participate in protests demanding the minister's resignation, as instructed by the Supreme Body of the party.

“The board had the right to participate in the party meeting on October 31. Four out of the five board members attended, and according to the final directive, we were to inform the rest of the student union about the outcomes of the meeting. As a means of informing, the board chose to hold a community meeting, scheduled for November 6. However, odd protests demanding the minister's resignation preceded this meeting, which we learned about online on the morning of November 4. That same evening, we were verbally informed of the Supreme Body's decision that we should participate in the protests, as we represent the student union and this is our domain. On November 6, the community meeting took place, where, besides the five board members who opposed the protest actions, the majority of the student union also opposed it, and we decided not to follow the Supreme Body's decision, which we informed the RA Supreme Body about on the same day. Just two weeks after our decision not to comply, my board was dissolved, and we were isolated, unable to participate in party life until a verdict would be reached about us,” he stated.

After the dissolution of the party's student union board, seven more students were isolated from the party, followed by the self-isolation of more than half of the union.

It should be noted that last week, the ARF expelled three members of the "Nikola Aghbalyan" Student Union who had opposed the protests demanding the minister's resignation, arguing that issues could be resolved through dialogue.