He Shaved Himself and ‘Shaved’ the Rest. Gagik Melkonyan

It is not that the person worked excellently, magnificently, and people came to him saying, ‘let him go.’ Gagik Melkonyan, a member of the National Assembly’s Civil Contract faction, stated this in an interview with NEWS.am, referring to the ‘parade’ of dismissals of high-ranking officials.

“I think that a time will come when everyone will know why each official was dismissed,” he said.

When asked about the dissatisfaction towards Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and why he does not resign, Melkonyan responded: “Where do these complaints come from? People are dissatisfied with ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. It is their performance that leads to criticism of the country’s Prime Minister. If a particular ministry is ineffective, then the Prime Minister is to blame. That is why he is correcting his mistakes now. Yes, this could have been done earlier, but better late than never.”

Regarding Pashinyan’s decision to shave and make drastic personnel changes after six years, Melkonyan jokingly replied, “He shaved himself and ‘shaved’ the rest.”

Melkonyan also added, “The heads of independent bodies have resigned themselves. For example, the chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council resigned on his own. He was not told, nor was he sent an SMS, instructed, or urged. He was not part of the dismissals; he resigned independently.”