I Do Not Welcome Gayane's Decision, But I Can Understand Her from a Human Perspective: Mikayel Zolyan's Post

MP Mikayel Zolyan from the 'My Step' faction of the National Assembly addressed the decision of MP Gayane Abrahamyan to resign from her mandate on his Facebook page. He wrote: 'I cannot refrain from speaking about our friend and colleague Gayane Abrahamyan's decision to resign from her mandate. I am very saddened that Gayane has decided to leave the National Assembly. In my opinion, her decision is a consequence of the fact that the dialogue between MPs and civil society has not taken place.

In such a situation, where the dialogue between MPs and civil society is absent or ineffective, those MPs who have distanced themselves from civil society find themselves in a very unpleasant position, and resigning from their mandates is one of the ways to get out of that situation. I do not think it is the best solution, therefore, I do not welcome Gayane's decision, but I can understand her from a human perspective.

At this moment, I do not want to look for the guilty ones. I assume that each of the parties involved in the failed dialogue will tend to blame the other. If we ask the MPs, including myself, we are probably more inclined to blame our friends from civil society. Our civil society friends might accuse us as well. Let us not go down that path. The fact is that the dialogue has not taken place, and the responsibility lies with all of us.

Let us all, both MPs and civil society, as well as activists, think about what each of us can do to prevent this from happening. Because I am convinced that the resignation of such an outstanding MP as Gayane Abrahamyan does not benefit the National Assembly, the ruling team, civil society, or civil activists. Let us hope that Gayane Abrahamyan's decision will serve as an opportunity for us to start searching for and finding a new model and language for communication between MPs and civil society. It will be a great pity if we do not succeed in that.'