VIDEO: Marukyan Responds to Hrant Bagratyan

The leader of the "Enlightened Armenia" faction, Edmon Marukyan, has responded via a live Facebook broadcast to the statements made by former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan about him, labeling Bagratyan as unserious.

It is noted that Bagratyan wrote on his Facebook page asserting that Edmon Marukyan does not possess a higher education, having graduated from a commercial and legal institute without a website, and later completed a course in human rights at the Warsaw University and attended law school at the University of Minnesota.

“The National Assembly website only lists the year of graduation. It’s unclear how long he studied—one week, one month, or two months. Listening to this volume of information doesn’t support the claim that the person holds a higher education degree. Maybe this is the reason why this 'strict opposition' gentleman plays the role of 'Nikol-2' in the National Assembly: no creative actions, just juggling positions and talking nonsense,” the former Prime Minister wrote.

“How unserious is former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, who is digging through the biography of opposition Edmon Marukyan, when he has worked with me as a deputy for five years, we have traveled together to the United States, taken various trips, and had a very warm relationship? At no point did he ever question whether I could provide my diploma, as if he doubted that I might not have a higher education,” Marukyan stated.

“Dear compatriots, I am not trying to deny Bagratyan's words that I have a higher education and that he is lying; I just want to take this opportunity to show how unserious people involved in politics in Armenia are and those who want to 'save' you. Can you imagine the level of this man's unseriousness? I don’t even know why only graduation years are mentioned on the Assembly's website, but that’s not the point. It’s like me saying that since I haven't seen Bagratyan's birth certificate, he must not have been born. How can one assert that a person lacks higher education just because it’s not listed on the National Assembly website? This is the pinnacle of absurdity,” declared Edmon Marukyan during the live broadcast.

The LHK leader then displayed photographs of his diplomas from the University of Commerce and Law in Moscow, the School of Human Rights in Warsaw, the Academy of State Administration of the Republic of Armenia, and the Law School of the University of Minnesota.

“I don’t know what caused Mr. Bagratyan to fall into some sort of turmoil, but in any case, this was a challenge he posed, and I accepted it. I hope he will show his birth certificate; if he does not, then according to his logic, it can be said that he was never born. But we certainly will not stoop to that level. There is no need for that—dear compatriots, just look at how disgraceful politics is in Armenia, see who is in Armenian politics, what they are saying, and realize that our people are listening to these individuals who play serious roles. That man now even aspires to the position of Prime Minister,” Marukyan added.