On January 21, Petros Ghazaryan’s guest on Public TV was Hayk Konjoryan, a member of the “My Step” fraction. The topic of the discussion was internal political developments, the government’s agenda. The pro-government deputy accused the opposition: “Some groups in Armenia serve the interests of the opposing state through their activities, as one of the most important cornerstones for the development of Armenia and the way out of this situation, the rebirth of our people is internal political stability.”
Petros Ghazaryan asked several times: “Why do you demand from the opposition not to nominate a candidate?” What’s the matter if the opposition nominates candidate or not? The opposition says one thing, the parliamentary opposition does not agree with it, extra-parliamentary one either, there is no consensus, the country is in uncertainty, in the end it is not clear, whether there will be snap elections, will the PM resign or not. The worst thing is the uncertainty, and we face uncertainty all over again.”
Hayk Konjoryan mentioned in his speech: “When people try to gain political dividends by using the issue of POWs, it means that the side dealing with the returning process of the captives understands that the internal political life of Armenia is constantly in turmoil, because by these actions they are delaying the return of the captives.” Petros Ghazaryan responded: “Ah, that is the opposition is to blame for Azerbaijan not returning our war prisoners.” Konjoryan answered: “No, the opposition is not the only culprit, the problem is the manipulation and the artificial exaggeration of the issue of prisoners of war by some oppositionists.” Petros Ghazaryan continued: “Why is it manipulation? People say bring the captives back. Is it manipulation? What do you suggest? Do you want see the opposition disintegrated so that you do not feel discomfort?”
The deputy answered: “Absolutely no. The opposition must have an obligation to carry out public activities regarding the issue of POWs. The opposition must present the issue of war prisoners to international organizations, ambassadors and embassies in Armenia all day long.” Petros Ghazaryan asked: “Does it have the right to say, “Hey, you, authorities, you fail to deal with this issue, let me try it.” There is a subtlety that you do not mention here; the issue of captives is fixed in the primary statement. First the opposition says, “Dear government, why did not you mention deadlines here, since deadlines were mentioned in terms of giving the lands, second, if Azerbaijan does not fulfill the first statement it does not return the captives, if Aliyev continues the Armenophobic rhetoric, hate speech, obvious hostility, why do we go and sign a document aimed at the future, when that state does not return your captives? ”
The deputy answered: “The whole subtlety of the issue lies in the fact that this is a process. The issue of captives is a process along with the statement of the 11th of November. There are both objective and subjective circumstances of the process. Yes, the most important circumstance is that Azerbaijan continues violating certain agreements, but It does not mean that we should slam the door, demarche, refuse to join the tripartite statement together with our strategic partner, and enter the guarantee process. In that case the process will stop, the consequences won’t be known.” The commenter responded: “It turns out that Azerbaijan will not give our captives back, unless we provide railways.”
