Sahakyan: Depriving Tsarukyan of his Parliamentary Seat is Not Political Persecution

Chair of Armenia's National Assembly, Galust Sahakyan

The Chairperson of Armenia’s National Assembly Galust Sahakyan told reporters that depriving the leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan of his parliamentary seat cannot be considered political persecution.

According to the website tert.am, when asked whether it was Tsarukyan’s many business investments or his absence from parliament which sparked the decision to deprive him of his mandate, Sahakyan said that business deals fall outside the authority of the Chair of the National Assembly, but he remarked, “It will be presented, discussed and you will be informed, the research is not complete, it refers to all political factions, the issue of political persecution does not exist.”

During a conversation with CivilNet, the head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the National Assembly, Arsen Babayan said that the “National Assembly administration is continuing to study the issue of absences from parliamentary sessions and their reasons of Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the Prosperous Armenia.”

On February 12, during a session of the Executive Council of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, President Serzh Sargsyan severely criticized leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan, often times leveling personal insults against the leader. Sargsyan initiated several actions, including removing Tsarukyan from the National Security Council and potentially depriving him of his parliamentary seat in order to launch an investigation about billions of drams in unpaid taxes. On February 13, Gagik Tsarukyan responded to Sargsyan’s challenge with his own statement.