By removing me from the post of chairman of the committee, the authorities cannot stop my fight aimed against them. Opposition MP Vahe Hakobyan, who is Chairman of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, told Armenian News-NEWS.am this, commenting on the process, which started by the ruling majority faction in the NA, to dismiss him.

"This is still only the decision of the ‘Civil Contract [CC]’ Faction. When it becomes official, I will make an announcement. In any case, the decision of the CC is nothing to me because the CC and its leader [i.e., PM Nikol Pashinyan] are nothing to me. This is a decision made specifically against me because I have always expressed harshly to these authorities, and I am a ‘bone’ left in Nikol's ‘throat.’

They think that with this move they will put me in a desperate situation, make me sad; but they are sorely mistaken. That position was not my dream. Whether I hold the post of chairman of the [aforesaid] committee or not, whether I have a [parliamentary] mandate or not, I will fight against Nikol and Nikolism," said Hakobyan.

"They [i.e., the incumbent Armenian authorities] are doing much worse things than they used to blame the former ones for. Only they want to remain in the [political] arena [of Armenia]. I wish good luck [to them]," the opposition lawmaker added.

Ruling majority "Civil Contract" Faction of the NA made a decision Tuesday to start the process of dismissal of NA opposition vice speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan and opposition chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Vahe Hakobyan.