Andranik Kocharian, the controversial chairman of the Armenian 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 Civil Contract, which holds the majority of parliament seats.
The parliamentary group of the party headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the opposition proposal and decided to vote against it late on Tuesday. Leaders of the parliamentary majority said they will propose for their part that the parliament set up instead a new standing committee tasked with investigating all lawmakers accused of misconduct. But parliament speaker Alen Simonian stressed that the committee would not “retroactively” look into the scandalous incident involving Kocharian.
The opposition minority did not officially react to Civil Contract’s decision as of Wednesday afternoon. One of its members, Taguhi Tovmasian, warned earlier that failure to give the green light to the probe would mean that the ruling party condones Kocharian’s “unacceptable, insolent behavior.”
Kocharian has refused to apologize to Jebejian, insisting that he said “nothing offensive” to the reporter. The 63-year-old deputy is notorious for frequent arguments with the press corps caused by his rude comments.
Another Civil Contract parliamentarian, Vilen Gabrielian, resigned early this month after appearing drunk in public and swearing at another journalist during the March 30 local election in Gyumri. Gabrielian made clear at the same time that he does not regret insulting the reporter.