YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Opposition lawmakers made a point of visiting Catholicos Karekin and receiving his blessings late on Sunday, August 2, after he was effectively barred from addressing the inaugural session of Armenia’s new parliament contrary to an established tradition.
The parliament’s statutes entitle the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church to deliver such an address along with the president of the republic. Karekin did not exercise that right due to a lack of formal invitation from the pro-government majority in the National Assembly. The snub reflected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s yearlong campaign to depose him, denounced by the Armenian opposition as illegal.
Lawmakers representing the opposition Strong Armenia and Hayastan alliances decried Karekin’s absence when the parliament elected on June 7 began its opening session on Sunday morning.
“Where is the Catholicos?” shouted some of them, prompting stern warnings from a pro-government colleague chairing the session.
The entire parliamentary groups of both alliances visited Karekin at his Echmiadzin headquarters late in the evening to show solidarity with him.
“In the context of this government’s anti-national campaign, when for the first time in the history of our state, His Holiness’ message, prayer, and wishes were not heard at the inaugural session of the National Assembly, we were obliged to correct what happened,” Hayastan’s parliamentary leader, Anna Grigorian, said at the meeting.
