YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am) — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan praised lawmakers from his Civil Contract party and mocked their opposition colleagues after they brawled on the Armenian parliament floor on Thursday, October 29.
The several dozen men spent about 30 minutes punching and kicking each other during a session of the National Assembly. Some of them were visibly injured as a result. Vahagn Aleksanyan, a parliament vice-speaker, threw a chair at deputies representing the main opposition Strong Armenia party.
Ruben Rubinyan, the parliament speaker also affiliated with Civil Contract, was in no rush to interrupt the session despite the ugly scenes.
“I will deliberately not interrupt the session so that everyone can see all of this,” he said. “The session will continue. You decide if there is going to be a brawl or not? Either disperse or take your seats.”
The brawl only intensified, leading Rubinyan to eventually call a break and order security guards into the auditorium. It then continued in the parliament lobby.
“I thought they [opposition deputies] were at least physically strong. Turns out they aren’t,” Pashinyan scoffed in a social media post shortly afterwards.
