Opposition MP Hayk Mamijanyan has brushed off the threats of the Armenian authorities to strip opposition deputies boycotting parliament sessions of their seats.
Lawmakers from the opposition Hayastan and With Honor (Pativ Unem) blocs stated the boycott last month ahead of the daily streets protests demanding PM Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation.
The Armenian parliament majority representing the ruling Civil Contract party will discuss the matter of stripping opposition MPs of their mandates next month, Speaker Alen Simonyan said.
The Armenian law provides for the termination of a deputy’s powers in the event of a prolonged absence from parliament sessions for non-legitimate reasons.
“It wasn't the authorities who gave us the mandates to discuss whether to strip us of them or not now,” Mamijanyan, who represents the With Honor alliance, told reporters at opposition protests in Yerevan’s Avan district on Thursday.
“We received the mandates from the people and are using them exactly the way we are meant to: to oust the capitulant and to restore the dignity of our country,” he noted.
Mamijanyan claims that the parliamentary leadership is “cut off” from the ongoing political processes.
“We are standing by our voters, our compatriots, and the real political processes are taking place in the streets,” the MP said.