PM Pashinyan again comments on Armenia parliament brawl: From now on, it will

I saw how the incident began. And if anyone thinks that they can raise their hand to hit an MP or do something else, then we will break that hand. I am saying [it] directly. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this during a press briefing on Thursday, regarding the brawl that occurred today in the Armenian parliament.

“If needed, we will break [that hand] with a chair. Let them [i.e. the Armenian parliamentary opposition] know their place. Everything has a limit. When their excrement was blaring from the podium, the [ruling majority] ‘Civil Contract’ [faction in parliament] was calling for an assessment of what happened. They did not give an assessment, let them now bear the consequences of their actions. From now on, it will be like this. The more they behave like this, the more they will receive a similar reaction,” Pashinyan added.

And responding to the question about the incident that had occurred during one of the sessions of the previous Armenian parliament, he stated as follows: “Do you think some group of corrupt criminals could throw a bottle at the prime minister in parliament and their face wouldn’t be smashed in? How do you imagine that?”

As reported earlier, a brawl broke out in the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia today between the MPs of the ruling majority “Civil Contract” and opposition “Strong Armenia” Factions.

Initially, the situation became tense due to “Civil Contract” lawmaker Taron Chakhoyan, during whose speech a verbal spat broke out in the parliament.

Then the verbal spat turned into a real brawl.

NA deputy speaker Vahagn Aleksanyan threw a chair at the opposition legislators.

“Strong Armenia” Faction MP Andranik Gevorgyan’s nose was bleeding, while “Strong Armenia” Faction lawmaker Ruben Mkhitaryan’s clothes were torn. Also, an ambulance arrived at the NA.

NA speaker Ruben Rubinyan, whose direct duty was to ensure order in the NA sessions’ hall, initially silently watched the brawl for several minutes, after which he announced a recess and summoned security officers.

The MPs continued their argument in the NA corridor, where curses were heard.