NA SPEAKER NEVER PLAYS CHILDISH TRICKS
LILIT POGHOSYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on June10, 2008
Armenia

TIGRAN TOROSYAN, Speaker of the Parliament, yesterday answered the
questions of the journalists. Most of the questions concerned the
chief intrigue of the week, i.e. the fact that majoritarian MP Henrik
Abrahamyan, the brother of Hovik Abrahamyan (Head of the presidential
staff), has waived his mandate.

"There are rumors that after Henrik Abrahamyan’s resignation Hovik
Abrahamyan is going to be elected as an MP from the same constituency
in anticipation of becoming the Speaker of the National Assembly."

"First of all, let me say that Henrik Abrahamyan has not handed in
resignation. The NA Regulations envisage 10 cases for terminating
the competences of the MPs, and resignation is just one of them. What
happened in this case is a breach of the Constitution.

As to the preposterous assumptions, I will say what has actually
happened.

Henrik Abrahamyan submitted a document from the archive of the Artashat
Wine Factory. It follows from there that he has been appointed as
a Director. And as you know, such position is incompatible with the
competences of an MP.

Under Article 12 of our Regulations, the NA Speaker is obliged, in
such cases, to draw up a statement on terminating the competencies
of the MP and send it to the Central Election Commission.

Resignation is quite a different matter and has nothing to do with
assuming a new post. What they are trying to present has absolutely
nothing to do with the reality.

And the last thing from this series: according to some publications,
I have reached certain agreements with some people including Henrik
Abrahamyan.

There is absolutely nothing of the kind. To be frank, I haven’t
even talked to Henrik Abrahamyan on that matter. I just received
the notice and, based on that, did what the NA Speaker is obliged to
do. I believe you have had many occasions to make sure that I never
reach any agreement with anyone and will never do so in future either."

"Anyway, to what extent is it possible that you may resign form the
post of the NA Speaker?"

"I have said that I am not going to resign. The resignation of the
Parliament Speaker is a serious event for any country. It either
results from fundamental discords inside the country or a change
in the political situation etc. There’s no precondition for that,
and I simply do not have the right to make that step.

Each person has to be conscious of his/her responsibility in this
or that position. This is not the position of a shopkeeper to allow
a person to do anything he/she desires. The person holding that
important post first of all bears responsibility to the country and
its people. Therefore, I don’t think anyone has the moral right to
play that kind of childish tricks."

"If you are offered a post on behalf of the President, will you again
refuse to hand in resignation?"

"I think everybody realizes perfectly well that I have never discussed
any issue with anyone in this connection. Unfortunately, some people
do not understand the importance of the post of the Parliament
Speaker. Neither do they understand the importance of that step
for the country. That will mean to put the country’s reputation at
stake. That will mean contemptuous attitude towards society."

"Who do you think circulates such rumors and with what purpose?"

"I am not a fortune-teller, and I never make comments on intrigues
and gossips. I have absolutely nothing to do with such things. I
think you have made sure of that in the course of the past 9 years."