Pashinyan's Missteps in Parliament: Following Noteworthy Statements

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" writes that yesterday in Parliament, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan presented the government's report on its activities in 2020, but it was more of a self-defensive propaganda speech, after which he also answered the questions of MPs and made several noteworthy statements.

During his speech, the Prime Minister detailed the events that took place during the 44-day war over Artsakh, and it was there that the slips were hidden. Notably, Pashinyan spoke using notes, meaning the speech text was pre-written, but this did not prevent him from, for instance, saying "President Putin of France" and "the 2021 44-day war." Of course, after these slip-ups, Pashinyan tried to correct himself.

Another of Pashinyan's statements was also interesting. He referred to the liberated regions of Artsakh as "Azerbaijani territories," claiming that he was ready to return them on October 19. "I called the President of Russia and said that we want a ceasefire to return the Azerbaijani territories in the 5+2 format," he stated. This raises the question of whether the Prime Minister truly thinks this way, considering those territories as Azerbaijani, or whether it was merely a verbal slip.

Then, justifying his own failures, he once again fabricated a story from the National Assembly podium, saying, "Could it have been said over the phone that the tanks should be driven to Yerevan, your enemy is in the square?" It should be noted that he spread similar fabrications even during the war, claiming he had information that some opposition members had urged the military not to fight, while the NSS later reported that no such thing occurred.

Pashinyan also addressed the situation regarding the former head of the Armed Forces General Staff, Onik Gasparyan, making a statement that Gasparyan denied in an interview with ArmLur.am. In particular, according to Pashinyan, the head of the General Staff said at a meeting that the enemy had no advance, and the military was fulfilling its task and would carry it out to the end. "The Chief of Staff did not say such a thing. This is officially recorded, including in audio recordings," he said. Later, responding to a question from Edmond Marukyan, the leader of the "Bright Armenia" faction, he even suggested that they could publish the relevant audio recording.

Later, Onik Gasparyan reaffirmed his previous statements in an interview with ArmLur.am, accusing Pashinyan of distorting the reality and using state mechanisms to mislead the public.

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