Armenian National Assembly (NA) speaker Ruben Rubinyan continues to accuse the opposition “Strong Armenia” Faction of instigating Thursday’s brawl in the NA sessions’ hall.

Speaking with reporters on Friday, Rubinyan said that he did not discuss the incident with his opposition colleagues, but hopes that they “have drawn conclusions.”

Also, Rubinyan assured that he did not receive a personal thank you from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Commenting on this incident’s wide coverage in international media, Rubinyan noted that “Of course, it is not good, but the [parliamentary] opposition is responsible.”

“I hope they [i.e. the Armenian parliamentary opposition] will not repeat [it]. But, to be honest, if they start again, the result will be the same,” Rubinyan added, in particular.

Speaking about the issues raised by the Armenian opposition regarding the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) regional transport project and the preparation of Armenia’s new constitution, Rubinyan called them legitimate and noted that it would be logical to get answers to them from everyone—the matter concerned Azerbaijan, too—since the development scenarios depend on it.

In the context of taking into account the opinion of opposition voters, Rubinyan categorically stated that the voters of Armenia’s opposition forces voted for three reasons: they were given money, they were intimidated by the opposition’s statements about the arrival of 300 thousand Azerbaijanis in Armenia, and they were promised that Strong Armenia party leader Samvel Karapetyan would become the next prime minister.

“The fundamental issue is that they [i.e. the Armenian opposition] do not hinder the submission of the text of the constitution to the judgment of the people [of Armenia]. Let the people decide. If they are sure that the text is bad, let the people decide—both in terms of the constitution and further political events,” Rubinyan noted.

To the remark that the incumbent Armenian authorities may use tried and tested means of using administrative resource, vote buying, etc. also during a possible referendum on adopting the new constitution, Rubinyan replied that it was Armenia’s opposition that had bought votes.

According to him, it has been proven that the ruling Civil Contract Party holds fair elections, which is noted in the recent Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) report. Rubinyan recalled the economic restrictions mentioned in this report, the purpose of which is to direct people to vote in a certain way.

“That is, the PACE report directly says that Armenia’s opposition is a ‘fifth column,’” the speaker of the Armenian National Assembly stated, adding, “or agents of influence.”