Armenian parliamentary speaker Alen Simonyan apologised for spitting on a pedestrian this week, as the media flurry around the incident continued on Friday.
“I’m sorry, I lost my self-control because of an insult directed at me,” the 43-year-old wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday.
The incident continued to spark heavy discussion across Armenian media outlets on Friday. Former Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan was one of many demanding Simonyan’s resignation.
The incident occurred earlier this week, when a member of the public supposedly called the politician a traitor on the street. The politician ordered his bodyguards to hold on to the man and Simonyan proceeded to spit in his face, the man said later.
Simonyan himself did not deny the act, but initially said about the incident: “Get it into your head that your impudence will not go unanswered, an insult directed at the legitimate authorities of the state will receive a legitimate response.”
After the affair went public, the head of the National Assembly and leading member of the ruling party Civil Contract came under considerable pressure.
The country’s government is already considered weakened after losing the war with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the embattled region of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. The conflict plunged the country into a deep crisis.
Many citizens consider the ceasefire agreement that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed, which resulted in Armenia having to give up large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, a betrayal.