Video: Simonyan's Response to Minasian's Words - 'For 30 Years, Those Who Forge Elections, Those Who Delegitimize'

During a discussion on the appointment of a member of the Audit Chamber, MP Artsvik Minasian from the 'Hayastan' faction announced that they would not participate in the voting, to which Ruben Rubinyan responded with a question to Minasian: why?

“If we are to be serious, esteemed colleagues, it is your right not to participate in various matters, but the citizens deserve at least to know the explanation. Why do you vote 'abstain' or 'against' in our sessions’ agendas? What specific problem do you have with the Audit Chamber as an institution?”

In response, Minasian stated: “Mr. Rubinyan, you reserve the right to ask a public question, and the public answer is the following: we justify our 'abstain' or 'against' votes. Where there is a certain improvement, we evaluate it positively, but the main emphasis is that as a rule, the packages presented are half-finished, or unrefined, or issues outside Armenia’s primary agenda. Where we vote 'against', as we will do in the case of the 'Law on State Secrets', we clearly explain why this is the case. Regarding the refusal to participate in a secret ballot, I must say that the parliamentary majority has delegitimized the results of the secret ballot and the voting process in general. The most vivid example has been Vahagn Hovakimyan's vote and your rejection of the opposition's proposed candidates without any reasonable explanation.”

Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan responded, “For 30 years, those who forge elections, those who delegitimize.”