Speaker walks out as protest to Pashinyan’s statement relating to children’s rights

Speaker of Parliament Ara Babloyan left the parliamentary sitting for 10 minutes as a sign of protest to PM candidate Nikol Pashinyan’s statement regarding children’s rights.

“Mr. Pashinyan, I didn’t have the intention of asking a question, you simply forced me. I will use what I have learnt from you, I will leave the hall for 10 minutes, as a protest to the statement which you made about the rights of children. Then, various international organizations which are dealing with children’s rights will explain your mistake to you. And if you get elected Prime Minister, don’t repeat such words from now on,” Babloyan said.

Before this, HHK faction MP Ruzanna Muradyan said that many schoolchildren had participated in the civil disobedience campaigns of Pashinyan. Muradyan asked the opposition leader how he would treat the fact if his own children would participate in demonstrations held by others. Pashinyan is a father of four.

“When the Karabakh movement began, I was a 13-year-old schoolkid. Me myself organized school strikes, marches, demonstrations and other protests those days. My children participated in these processes during my entire political activity and I find this to be a strong civil school for them. I find schoolchildren to be one of the most powerful layers and participants of our movement,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan says the participation of school children is the guarantee that all promises will become reality.

Muradyan, in response, said: “So it turns out that your motivations are so strong that you are even ready to ignore safety of children and you can ignore bad consequences, regarding the fact that they can’t make adequate decisions”. Pashinyan in response noted that children have constitutional rights, which they have exercised.