Search for guilty:  what do the ruling party’s assessments look like?

The press is flooded with comments on the February 13^th incident at Yerevan Council of Elders, which gives grounds for reflection. At the same time, it is not only the comments voiced by members of the RPA faction of the Yerevan Council of Elders, but also the estimations given by other members of the ruling party, which, unlike the first ones, are not unequivocal …

It should be reminded that one of the first to report about the incident at the council meeting was the women members of the RPA faction who tried to justify the behavior of men saying that they “did everything right” preventing “terrorism”. Those acquittals were very negatively perceived, however, by the public, including the residents, whose complaints were trying to voice members of “Yerkir Tsirani”.

“During a conversation with Zhoghovurd daily, deputy of the National Assembly, general Seyran Saroyan expressed such an opinion about the behavior of the mayor’s assistant Karateist Gor Vardanyan: “If he defense women at that moment he would have a bigger role, including in Taron’s service. In addition, these women, if they had a defender, would also get calm”.

Another MP Samvel Farmanyan told Radio Liberty that attempts of violence are unacceptable, especially by representatives of the political power. If someone takes commitment and position in Government, therefore, should be ready to hear criticism. It is quite normal especially for such a transitional country as Armenia. In his opinion, what’s happening once again proves that the quality of political processes in Armenia is steadily aggravating.

Speaking to reporters after the session of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) , NA Vice Speaker and Party Spokesperson Eduard Sharmazanov, referring to the February 13^th incident at Yerevan Council of Elders, noted that the RPA does not accept any acts of non-civilized, non-ethical and inappropriate offenses. Saying that he does not want to comment on the incident, which is in the legal field, anyhow, he considers speeches about sexual violence to be strange.

“It was an action; it was a tendency to be in the spotlight. Herostratus also burned the temple to stay in history. They say violence against women … I did not see the image of an Armenian woman there…”, – said Head of the RPA faction Vahram Baghdasaryan noting that all this was a tendency to hinder the normal work of the municipality. He added that one day before the incident, the city authorities and representatives of the relevant structures visited the place according to the complaint of residents, and asked for a week’s time for the solution of the problem, after which they immediately transferred the appropriate equipment.

Of courses it does not correspond to the RPA members’ response to the demand of Yerkir Tsirani members during the council meeting. If so they would have tried to show how many relevant operations they have done, and would not have reacted in such a way.

According to psychologist Samvel Khudoyan, the reason for that situation was the leadership problem. “Any session, meeting, council has its moderator, whose main goal is to conduct a constructive session and not to allow conflicts, because any intense passion may develop. The session moderator should be able to legitimize the problem. In fact, the presiding officer not only could not focus on this situation, but also failed to give a realistic assessment, letting the situation out of control. The chaos began. In other words, I consider the reason the inadequate reaction of the moderator, in this case mayor”.

Full text in Armenian