Incident in the National Assembly: 'Who is Alen Simonyan to allow or disallow?' The Assembly President Intervened

On September 16, an incident occurred in the National Assembly. Members of the 'Enlightened Armenia' faction, Ani Samsonyan and Gevorg Gorgisyan, attempted to bring a banner reading 'Take a step, leave with courage' addressed to the Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports, Araik Harutyunyan, into the assembly hall.

Ani Samsonyan initially negotiated with the President of the Assembly, Ararat Mirzoyan, who was present in the hall, and then went outside, followed by Vice-President Alen Simonyan. When the opposition MPs tried to bring the banner into the hall, Alen Simonyan first read the text on the banner and then urged security personnel not to allow the MPs with the banner into the hall.

After that, the MPs attempted to enter again, but security employees pushed Gorgisyan back. 'Who is Alen Simonyan to allow or disallow? Now they want to censor, to see what is written, so that based on that they decide whether to let them in or not,' stated Gorgisyan.

Subsequently, Ararat Mirzoyan came out of the assembly hall and promised to mediate the issue. After his intervention, they were allowed to enter with the banner. Incidentally, Ararat Mirzoyan noted that a session was underway inside and that they were causing a disruption.