I Am Preparing to Get a Higher Education: A Member of the Civil Contract Party

I am preparing to get a higher education: This was stated by the MP of the "Civil Contract" faction of the National Assembly, Hripsime Hunanyan, in an interview with parliamentmonitoring.am.

Mrs. Hunanyan, you are a new face in this parliament and have come from the healthcare sector, having been a nurse. How did the transition to politics happen?

I have been a member of the "Civil Contract" party since 2015 and have always been involved in political activities. I worked in a medical institution for 16 years, and by profession, I am a nurse; I have always worked in intensive care units. I spent a very short time as a regular nurse, always taking on leadership roles. Since I have always been involved in politics, I was included in the list of candidates for the Yerevan Council of Elders from the "Civil Contract" party and then in the parliamentary list.

Why did you choose the Civil Contract party specifically?

I chose them because at that time their ideas resonated with me.

Are they still resonating with you now?

Of course, they still resonate with me now. I want to say that at that time I chose them because they were close to my values. Now they resonate even more. If they weren't so, I am the type who definitely wouldn't stay. It's true that I wouldn't change sides either, that’s not my nature, but I definitely wouldn't remain in the Civil Contract party if their ideas weren't dear to me.

For instance, which ideas of the Civil Contract party are acceptable to you?

Now many who have traveled with the Civil Contract party express dissatisfaction that the ruling power has stepped back from the values it once professed. In particular, they criticize now that there has been a regression in democracy and a restriction of freedom of speech.

Who is dissatisfied, who is being persecuted? Let them look at their biography. If everything is happening within the bounds of the law, I do not consider that persecution. Let everyone think for themselves and understand what has happened that now the state is initiating criminal charges against certain individuals.

As for the question of which ideas are acceptable to me, I can say that I have always been among the honest workers; corruption is an unacceptable phenomenon for me. I have worked as a leader and have never done anything for money. Never. I will never do that either; it goes against my principles. Honesty, an uncompromising fight against corruption—these are the ideas that have always been acceptable to me.

You mention a restriction on freedom of speech. Please look at what is happening on social media. Freedom of speech is not about insulting people, nor is it about obscene thoughts and language. One cannot allow such vocabulary towards someone without knowing them. It is unacceptable. No matter how much people hate each other, they should have basic decency and refrain from using such unacceptable language.

It feels as though they were never allowed to speak throughout their lives, and now they have suddenly gotten the chance to open their mouths and talk. But why is it like this? For example, many blame your party for spreading hatred, recalling the coffin protests of 2018.

Do you think the ruling power told people, 'Take the coffins and go out into the streets'? Of course not. The ruling power, I remember, used words like 'solidarity,' 'velvet revolution' and such during all protests. At that time, people loved each other.

Of course, the coffin protests were unacceptable, and I am not in favor of them. You will never see inappropriate comments, words, or insults on my Facebook page. I was an ordinary citizen until becoming a council member and an MP. No matter how much I hated the leaders of the previous government and rejected their activities, I have never allowed myself to use inappropriate expressions against them. After all, they are representatives of your nation.

Let me ask again, have you ever seen so much freedom of speech in Armenia? Media outlets have been instructed on what to say, and they have talked about those specific topics. Have you ever seen that people talk so much on social media and express so many opinions? I have not seen people insult Kocharian or Serzh Sargsyan on social media.

We talked about your biography. I noticed that you do not have higher education, is that correct?

Yes, you are correct, I do not have higher education, but I am preparing to obtain a higher education. I am trying to continue my studies at the American University in my specialty, in the bachelor’s program. That will be a little later, but I hope everything will go well.