They come here and say it looks like the government wants to put the whole burden on the former government’s shoulders, and with this, they might be showing what their main mission is. This is what Armenia’s Premier Nikol Pashinyan stated in his concluding speech during the discussion on the government program at the National Assembly on 14 February, touching upon the speech by head of the parliamentary faction of Bright Armenia Party Edmon Marukyan.

“They say people used to blame Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan and now they’re blaming Nikol Pashinyan. You do realize that neither one is to blame, right? This is the main idea. Neither Serzh Sargsyan nor Robert Kocharyan is to blame, and it looks like the current government is not to blame either. Serzh Sargsyan was to blame for creating unfavorable conditions for doing business and for helping his brother have 50% share of all businesses. Don’t ever try to place me and them at the same level again. Place yourselves at their level,” Pashinyan declared.

Pashinyan recalled that Marukyan and his partisans were saying the same things in 2018.

“They weren’t fighting against individuals, but then they decided to become a part of government and start building the country. Now they have come here and are making judgments. Then they say there was no revolution. If there was no revolution, then what is your 18-member faction doing in parliament?” Pashinyan said, after which the MPs of the My Step Alliance gave a round of applause.

Pashinyan also addressed MP of the Bright Armenia Party’s faction Arman Babajanyan and stated the following: “You talk about Armenia’s foreign policy and Armenia’s identity, but at the same time, you place Armenian and U.S. national flags and the flag of the European Union and advise us to balance Armenia’s foreign policy. Why haven’t you placed the Russian national flag, not to mention the flag of the Vatican?”