Armenian MP critical of parliamentary opposition over proposal for March 1 committee

Samvel Nikoyan, chaired the first parliamentary committee set up to investigate into the tragic events in Armenia’s capital, on March 1, 2008, made a statement in Armenia’s parliament on Thursday and accused the opposition of showing an destructive approach.

According to him, the opposition forces boycotted the first committee’s activities, whereas they are proposing a new committee now.

However, Nikoyan said, what could be done then cannot be done now because public sentiments are different now.

“We were calling on them to participate in the committee’s work,” Nikoyan said.

With respect to the opposition forces’ argument that they declined the proposal because they were invited with a consultative vote, Nikoyan said that no votes had been envisaged and they might have established the truth. The committee’s only task would have been to draw political conclusions.

Nikoyan reminded the MPs of parliamentary committees’ powers and of the work done. Specifically, the committee “followed the opposition’s steps” as the opposition claimed 25 victims rather than ten. We found out that policemen had received shrapnel wounds rather than gunshot ones. That is, the protesters had not fired at the policemen.

Nikoyan also reminded the MPs that the first committee had all the government-issue weapons examined by experts only to find out that they had not been on the police register.

According to Nikoyan, two committees on March 1 have been set up. The first was the committee chaired by him and the second the fact-finding commission, whose findings were incorporated in the committee’s report to the Parliament.