Andranik Kocharian, the controversial chairman of the parliament committee on defense and security, raged at Hripsime Jebejian of the Tribune.am news service when she approached him together with other parliamentary correspondents on March 20. Kocharian told Jebejian to “clean your lips” when she demanded an explanation for his rude refusal to answer her questions.
Journalists accredited in the National Assembly as well as Armenia’s leading media associations expressed outrage at Kocharian’s behavior. As many as 161 journalists signed afterwards a petition demanding the creation of a parliamentary ethics commission that would be empowered to not only investigate the lawmaker but also ask the Constitutional Court to oust him from the parliament.
The two opposition groups represented in the parliament swiftly added their voice to the demands and put a corresponding motion endorsed by legal experts from the parliament staff. The ad hoc commission cannot be formed without the consent of the ruling Civil Contract party, which holds the majority of parliament seats.
The parliamentary group of the party headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian voted against the motion, scuttling its passage. The majority leader, Hayk Konjorian, accused the opposition of exploiting the issue for political aims.
Another Civil Contract lawmaker, Alkhas Ghazarian, reaffirmed the ruling party’s pledge to set up a new standing parliament committee tasked with investigating all lawmakers accused of misconduct. Parliament speaker Alen Simonian made clear earlier that the committee would not “retroactively” look into the scandalous incident involving Kocharian.
Kocharian seemed to be in high spirits during the parliament debate, again refusing to apologize to the female journalist and claiming that he did not insult her. “I didn’t say anything offensive,” he said.
“The political majority justifies intolerance, violence and hatred targeting the opposition camp,” charged Artsvik Minasian, a senior lawmaker from the main opposition Hayastan alliance.
Another Hayastan member, Garnik Danielian, echoed the accusation, pointing to the Armenian authorities’ failure to fire the head of one of Yerevan’s administrative districts who beat up a video blogger last week.
Kocharian, 63, is notorious for frequent arguments with the press corps caused by his rude comments. Another Civil Contract parliamentarian, Vilen Gabrielian, resigned last month after appearing drunk in public and swearing at another journalist. Gabrielian made clear at the same time that he does not regret insulting the reporter.