ArmInfo. Armenia's defense minister must be outside "political party teams," believes the ex-minister of defense David Tonoyan, who is in custody now on huge embezzlement charges. He is charged with embezzling $4.6mln.
In responding to a statement by Gagik Melkonyan, a member of the Civil Contract parliamentary faction, he said:
"As far as I know, Gagik Melkonyan, an MP of the ruling party Civil Contract, in commenting on the proposed amendments to the Law on Defense, stated that the minister of defense must be fellow member of Nikol Pashinyan's team. He said literally that 'one of the major problems during the war we lost was that they were not his teammates. We know how they organized escape,'."
"In this context, I would like to emphasize a number of facts. First, the fact that Gagik Melkonyan once held high posts at the Ministry of Defense does not at al means he has the necessary professional skills to draw conclusions.
"Moreover, I am proud that as a government member I was not a member of the team with Melkonyan as one of its members," Tonoyan said.
This April he gave an "exhaustive answer" to the question as to why he did not consider himself a member of the Pashinyan-led team and the reasons for his decision to agree to fill the post of minister of defense.
"Gagik Melkonyan's statements only corroborate my doubts about the real objectives of the 'investigative commission' of the Parliament.
"I am deeply convinced that the minister of defense, as a government member, assuming political responsibility for implementing the government defense programmes, must, however, be outside the 'political party team'," Tonoyan stated.