Armenian Mps Demand Scandalous Speaker's Resignation

(MENAFN- AzerNews)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

A serious behind-the-scenes struggle has unfolded between Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan and Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan, according to the Zhoghovurd newspaper, Azernews reports.

The clash of personalities and ambitions, reinforced by the upcoming elections in 2026, has led to a fierce confrontation between the two iconic figures of the Velvet Revolution, as well as other contenders for the role of Nikol Pashinyan's successor.

According to the newspaper, the struggle took the form of open attacks and accusations of corruption. Simonyan tried to belittle Grigoryan's role before Pashinyan, while the latter drew attention to the involvement of Simonyan's family members in the tender purchases of the Synergy company, which drew the attention of law enforcement agencies. Simonyan found himself at the centre of a corruption scandal due to the arrest of his brother's wife.

The newspaper quoted sources as saying that some members of the ruling party directly or indirectly demand Simonyan's resignation and have put the issue to Pashinyan. All this raises serious doubts about the speaker's political future.

It should be noted that several scandalous events took place on the political level regarding Alen Simonyan. For example, one of them was between the Armenian speaker and the spokeswoman of the Russian MFA, Maria Zakharova.

She had sharply reacted to statements made about her by the Chairman of the National Assembly. Simonyan, in a verbal altercation with the Russian Foreign Ministry, disparagingly called the speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry“some secretary”.

Thus, the Russian spox tried to react to the Armenian parliament speaker's statement with irony: "It's hard to argue that there are obvious problems with the level [of Simonyan's statements]. And I want to say words of support to all 'secretaries' of the planet. Friends! Your work is the key to the success of even the most high-ranking boss. Without your daily hard work, including scheduling, organizing meetings, working with documents, receiving calls, and a million different worries, everything will go to waste. Don't take offense, this person, I'm sure, blurted it out without thinking. Do not extend your attitude towards what he said to the Armenian people. The Armenian people are wise, long-suffering, and loving," she emphasised.

In addition, Simonyan had a serious conflict with the opposition parties in Parliament. So the parliament speaker has caused another scandal after allegedly spitting at an opposition activist who branded him a "traitor."

Garen Megerdichian, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) party, shouted the insult at Simonian as the latter visited a popular pedestrian area in downtown Yerevan.

Megerdichian claimed that Simonian responded by ordering his bodyguards to grab his hands before swearing at him and spitting in his face. He said he was then briefly detained by the police.

Simonian did not deny spitting at the Canadian-born activist, who was highly critical of Armenia's government, when he commented on the incident later on Sunday. In a Facebook post, he said that Megerdichian had already publicly insulted him back in 2023.

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