Prime Minister Decides How to Express Himself: Let Voters Decide If It's Acceptable, Says Tunyan

The incident involving Vahan Kerobyan can happen to anyone. This was stated by Babken Tunyan, a member of the 'Civil Contract' faction, during a conversation with reporters today.

According to him, there is a presumption of innocence, and the court still needs to issue a ruling regarding Vahan Kerobyan's actions. Regarding Prime Minister Pashinyan's statement that everyone should pay taxes, which is acceptable yet raises concerns about the Prime Minister's language, Tunyan mentioned, 'If you expect me to evaluate the Prime Minister's vocabulary and formulations, that cannot happen. The Prime Minister decides how to express himself. Let the voters decide if it’s acceptable or not.'

The lawmaker stated that sometimes thoughts are better conveyed when speaking to the public in a more accessible and straightforward language rather than through technical terms. 'It was stated simply and in popular language that people should obey the laws. However, I must emphasize that there has been significant manipulation regarding those going abroad for work, and it was presented, intentionally or not, as if this is a new law and new regulation, and people have to pay taxes. But no new law has been accepted. It was adopted years ago and has not been enforced. All those who have worked in Russia and paid taxes, that information is automatically communicated by our State Revenue Committee, informing people that according to the law, they need to pay the difference as prescribed. If taxes were taken from everyone or fines imposed, we would understand, but what happened was just an informing process. When the law is not enforced for years, people start thinking that such a law does not exist or forget about it or think it should just remain on paper. But we need to reach the point where if a law is not being enforced, it should be changed, or the law should be enforced,' Tunyan elaborated.