Georgy Petrosyan Talks About Meeting With President: Urges Not to Deepen Public Perception of President as Prime Minister's Accomplice

We just had a meeting with the President of the Republic. This was stated today, February 27, in a conversation with NEWS.am on Baghramyan Avenue, by MP Georgy Petrosyan.

“He listened to the opinions, but he makes the decision himself. I merely urged him not to deepen the public perception that he is the Prime Minister’s accomplice, that he mechanically endorses the Prime Minister's decisions. I also pointed out the articles of the law according to which it is illegal to dismiss Onik Gasparyan from his position,” he said.

According to Petrosyan, a person cannot be dismissed from work without a reason. “I assess his personal attitude toward Onik Gasparyan as more dangerous than just personal bias; this is an attempt to decapitate the army. The President should not succumb to that provocation as the guarantor of the people's security, should rise above it, and remember that he is tasked with upholding the Constitution,” he noted.

Commenting on the remarks made by Vazgen Manukyan, the prime ministerial candidate of the “Homeland Salvation Movement,” regarding a potential revolt in the army if Onik Gasparyan is dismissed, Petrosyan said, “If he signs the order for Onik Gasparyan’s dismissal, it means that the other individuals who signed that statement should also be dismissed. Thus, the army is being deprived of generals and colonels. Who will Nikol Pashinyan bring in? Will it be Daniel Ioannisyan? What cadre does he have to ensure the safety of our people? If there is a principle of equality before the law, then it is presumed that the others who signed should also be dismissed because the accusation is made as though a political statement was issued, which is prohibited for a military person. How is it that Nikol Pashinyan can do this, bringing in military personnel, border guards, and NSS employees, surrounding himself, but if it goes against him, it is deemed a violation of service regulations? You are not firing a canteen worker, you are dismissing the Chief of Staff, which our country does not need at this moment,” he emphasized.

When asked where this might lead the army, the MP stated, “As long as Nikol Pashinyan is sitting in the Prime Minister's chair, our army will not expect good; in general, our state will not expect good. There is no attempt at a military coup. As Nikol Pashinyan is ignorant of law, someone has whispered something to him, and he believed it. A military coup attempt would involve military personnel entering the Government building or seizing it, compelling resignation, but there is nothing like that. The army has merely acted in accordance with the Constitution.”

Regarding the actions of the opposition, Georgy Petrosyan noted that they should adopt more concrete steps: “They should bring to the National Assembly their deputies for coercive measures. They must compel them to make three decisions: a decision to lift the state of emergency, a decision to dismiss the self-proclaimed supreme commander, and a decision to elect a Prime Minister.”

When asked who will bring the deputies to justice, Petrosyan replied, “The people. Pashinyan said that the people govern from the streets. What he wants is to incite civil war. That individual is relying only on that; he wants the people to tear each other apart, so that later the Turk can invade and say, 'Well, what can I do, you tore each other apart, and the Turk took advantage of it.' Nikol Pashinyan is the criminal of the century.”