Being an MP is not like making shawarma, where you just watch and practice holding the onions right: N. Zohrapyan

Armenian Parliament member Naira Zohrapyan wrote on her Facebook page: “Today I again met with the parents of prisoners of war and missing soldiers. I have learned to listen every day to their stories of horrific and unbearable pain. I know by heart the preferences of each fallen and missing soldier and even their loved ones who are still waiting.

And now what I am about to say seems to have no connection with the great pain of the captured and missing boys and their parents. I had decided to remain silent for some time. Because I also need silence to understand and analyze many things. But now I must speak about my friend Gegham Nazaryan, with whom I worked at 'Haykakan Zhamanak' and with whom I fought for a better Armenia.

I do not like this unhealthy agitation surrounding the parliamentary mandate. Believe me, a parliamentary mandate is not a reward card that the winner rejoices over. It is a heavy and very responsible job. And especially in this parliament, there should be people who at least try to keep our homeland standing at the edge of the abyss from crossing into irreversibility.

Being an MP is not like making shawarma, where you sit and watch how it's made and gradually get used to holding onions correctly. And political experience will not come from sitting in that chair for a long time. For years, I have seen people sitting in the position of MP who referred to the parliament as 'the council of overlords' until the end.

What I am saying is that Gegham works every day with the parents of fallen, captured, and missing soldiers, as one of them, whose son Abgar was killed in this war. I do not dispute the patriotism of anyone who has received a parliamentary mandate. I still do not dispute it because I have not yet seen their work. But I am confident of one thing: Gegham should be in the parliament.

The thousands of families of fallen and hundreds of missing soldiers should have their representative in the parliament. Not everything should be decided by formal, meaningless, and artificial quotas. We are in a non-standard situation and sometimes, yes, non-standard solutions are needed.

I would like to see Gegham in the parliament.”