On April 25, at the session of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, members of the Civil Contract faction voted to reject the draft law on the creation of an ethics committee regarding the behavior of MP Andranik Kocharyan.
Recall that on March 20, during a briefing with journalists, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security of the National Assembly Andranik Kocharyan demanded that the head of the Tribune.am news service Hripsime Jebejyan step away from him and, clearly not wanting to talk to her, insulted her with obscene language. We, the undersigned organizations, issued a condemning statement on this incident, demanded an investigation into the MP’s behavior and an assessment, initiating the process of forming a parliamentary ethics committee. Hripsime Jebejyan, in turn, sent a letter to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the NA staff, signed by 161 journalists, with the same demands.
It is difficult to say what is the main reason why the majority of the Communist Party of Armenia faction in the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs is against the creation of a parliamentary ethics committee. Is it because the project was submitted by opposition factions, whose proposals the ruling party usually does not accept, or is it a manifestation of solidarity towards a party member, regardless of his outstanding behavior? In any case, the inability to assess Andranik Kocharyan’s indecent behavior and at least not the creation of an ethics committee to discuss it prove that the ruling majority does not see anything unusual in such conflicts, considers it normal to insult journalists and thus gives the green light to such incidents.
Perhaps this is why clashes between MPs and media representatives have become more frequent recently. It is enough to recall the unfriendly attitude towards various journalists on the part of the NA Speaker Alen Simonyan, MPs Khachatur Sukiasyan, Hovik Agazaryan, Vilen Gabrielyan and others.
We are convinced that the fight against indecent behavior in a polarized environment must begin with the National Assembly itself. On the one hand, politicians, including representatives of the parliamentary majority, complain about the atmosphere of intolerance, on the other hand, they clearly do not want to take the necessary steps to overcome it and reject the creation of an ethics committee. And the situation in the National Assembly, in particular the tension between deputies and journalists, requires much more responsible and politically open decisions.
We, the undersigned journalistic organizations, express our disappointment that parliamentarians continue to shy away from the idea of creating an ethics committee, and reiterate our demand for legislative amendments to further simplify the process of forming such a body or, preferably, to create a permanent parliamentary ethics committee.
COMMITTEE FOR THE PROTECTION OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH
YEREVAN PRESS CLUB
MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER
MULTILATERAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION – ARMENIA
PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB
NGO “JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE”
NGO “JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS”
GORIS PRESS CLUB