The lawmaker, Vilen Gabrielian, was spotted and approached by Koryun Simonian of the Euromedia24.com news service. The latter tried to understand whether he is indeed drunk. Gabrielian responded with swear words, demanding that Simonian not publicize a video of their conversation shot by him.
The 41-year-old lawmaker also said: “In the context of the Gyumri election, I’m the number one star today.”
Simonian posted the video online before being joined by his colleagues also covering the election. They filmed and interviewed Gabrielian while demanding an apology from him. One of the journalists also told him to resign from the National Assembly.
“There is going to be regime change in 2026. Why should I give up my parliament seat now?” replied Gabrielian.
The tense verbal exchanges took place near Civil Contract’s election campaign headquarters in Armenia’s second largest city. The clearly embarrassed governor of the surrounding Shirak province, Davit Arushanian, and other senior party figures tried to pull Gabrielian away from the scene. But he refused to budge, berating his comrades.
“Why don’t you all step aside,” he told them angrily. “All of you! I’ll decide what to say and what not to say.”
Gabrielian refused to talk or apologize to the press corps when he showed up in the parliament building in Yerevan on Monday. There was no official reaction to Sunday’s incidents from Civil Contract or its top leader, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
But one senior member of the ruling party, Arsen Torosian, deplored his scandalous behavior. Torosian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the party leadership will discuss it.
Meanwhile, Simonian began collecting the signatures of fellow journalists under a petition demanding that the parliament launch an ethics inquiry into Gabrielian. He said law-enforcement authorities should also investigate the parliamentarian because “we have reason to suspect that Gabrielian was under the influence of not only alcohol at that moment.”
Gabrielian sits on the parliament committee on defense and security and has access to some state secrets. The pro-government chairman of the committee, Andranik Kocharian, similarly found himself in hot water after publicly insulting another reporter, Hripsime Jebejian, on March 20. Jebejian was told to “clean your lips” when she demanded an explanation for his rude refusal to answer her questions.
At least 161 journalists signed afterwards a petition demanding that the parliament to form an ad hoc ethics commission that investigate Kocharian and possibly ask the Constitutional Court to oust him from the parliament. The parliament’s pro-government majority appears to have ignored the demand. Kocharian has refused to apologize to Jebejian, insisting that he said “nothing offensive” to the parliamentary correspondent.