Arthur Ghazinyan: It Is Not Honorable for Me to Be the Deputy of Andranik Kocharyan, but This Is the Function of the Opposition

Every day we hear about the enemy's new advances and its encroachments on Armenia's sovereign territory. This was stated by Arthur Ghazinyan, a member of the 'Armenia' faction, during a conversation with reporters.

It is noteworthy that today an extraordinary meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defense and Security was convened, the agenda of which included the election of the deputy chair of the committee. The opposition had presented the candidacy of Arthur Ghazinyan for the fourth time, but the election did not take place.

After the committee did not include security issues in its agenda, Arthur Ghazinyan left the meeting room, finding that there was nothing more to add regarding his candidacy, and the voting could proceed in his absence.

Ghazinyan mentioned that he had come to discuss the situation at the border of Armenia, particularly in the Syunik border area. He stated that he was ready to participate in the committee's work on the condition that there would be a substantive discussion, as the situation at Armenia's external borders is dire; we hear daily about new advances of the enemy and its incursions into Armenia's sovereign territory.

According to Ghazinyan, when the chair of the committee and its members from the ruling 'Civil Contract' party rejected an important proposal, he no longer deemed it appropriate to remain at the meeting. He indicated that the committee, under such conditions, displays absolute ineffectiveness, is incompetent to deal with matters of Armenia's defense and security, fails to exercise proper oversight, and does not summon government and authority bodies, which are directly responsible for the inviolability of Armenia's borders, territorial integrity, and external security.

Referring to Andranik Kocharyan's attitude towards him, Ghazinyan noted, 'It is not particularly honorable for me to be the deputy of Andranik Kocharyan. This does not bring me great pleasure, but this is the function of the opposition that is currently assigned to me. In other words, the 'Armenia' faction has decided to nominate my candidacy.'