Notable Decision: Will Ruling Party MPs Obtain Weapons?

After the chaos that occurred on the night of November 9-10, many MPs from the ruling coalition continue to avoid going out into the streets. This is especially true after a group of young people began visiting the yards of ruling party members' homes, calling them "traitors" and shaming them. Many legislators have gone underground due to fear: some are worried about being disgraced, while others fear physical attacks.

According to information from the "Haykakan Zhamanak" newspaper, Edward Agajanyan, head of the Armenian government’s staff, has proposed a solution to help overcome these fears among ruling party MPs. During one of the faction’s closed meetings, he announced that weapons would soon be distributed to the members of parliament to ensure their unhindered movements.

The government is currently engaged in collecting weapons to distribute to ruling party MPs, and making changes to the existing laws is just a technical matter. What remains unclear is how the Armenian government will justify the idea of distributing weapons exclusively to representatives of the ruling bloc when it comes to giving MPs arms.

It is known that the National Assembly has 132 MPs from the Prosperous Armenia, Bright Armenia, and My Step factions, and 8 independent MPs.

The "Haykakan Zhamanak" newspaper spoke with My Step faction MP Hovik Aghazaryan to clarify this information. Aghazaryan stated that he was not aware of the initiative, suggesting that there might have been a meeting he did not attend, but he also expressed that giving weapons to MPs is unacceptable to him: "No, I do not share that stance." Notably, the MP announced that he does not perceive any danger, travels by public transport, and has no issues.

My Step MP Hratchya Hakobyan also told us that he was unaware of such measures, possibly having missed that meeting. Recently, judges were granted the right to carry weapons, and it was announced yesterday that soon employees engaged in operational activities of the State Revenue Committee and other personnel will also be given the opportunity to possess firearms. The draft was presented at a meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defense, National Security, and Internal Affairs.

For more details, refer to today’s issue of the newspaper.