Nikol Pashinyan called Vigen Sargsyan "cynic" and lifelong "referent", criticizing him for "stealing" the idea of the concept of "Nation-Army"
ArmInfo.The head of the opposition faction "Elk" Nikol Pashinyan today from the rostrum of the parliament during the discussion of the draft law "On military service and the status of serviceman", which assumes the complete abolition of the deferment from compulsory military service for all young people who have reached the age of 18 and do not get out of health problems, incompatible with the service in the army, sharply criticized the defense minister Vigen Sargsyan.
"Vigen Sargsyan's speeches can not be called otherwise but cynical and ridiculous," Pashinyan concluded, expressing his dissatisfaction with the fact that during the presentation of such an important document in the parliament, the defense minister does not attend the meeting room.
Pashinyan did not particularly like Vigen Sargsyan's statement that he is a politician. "Which politician is Vigen Sargsyan, he has been and remains a lifelong referent, spending his time in the waiting room or other proper person. and now he is not the Minister of Defense - he is now the referent of Serzh Sargsyan in the Defense Ministry," the Pashinyan region.
He also criticized Sargsyan's statement that if the bill is adopted, all recruits will have the opportunity to serve under the same conditions as Vigen Sargsyan. "It is that, he offers everyone to become Serzh Sargsyan's referents, because Vigen Sargsyan served as Serge Sargsyan's referent," Pashinyan said.
The MP also expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that the Defense Ministry did not provide him with documentary justification for the postponement of service in the army of Vigen Sargsyan: "I was told that they were destroyed and presented a copy of the diploma of Sargsyan, where he noted that he studied at the Yerevan State University from 1992 to 1997. Meanwhile, in the biography of the same Sargsyan it is said that during that period he studied in St. Petersburg. All this shows that it is necessary to deal with forgery in the biography of Vigen Sargsyan," said Pashinyan.
Further, he criticized the Minister of Defense for having "privatized" copyrights to the concept of "Nation- Army". "Vigen Sargsyan constantly talks about this concept, forgetting that his author is not he, but the hero of the Karabakh war, now arrested Zhirayr Sefilyan, and we need to figure out whether we need this concept," Pashinyan said. Note that the law "On military service and the status of serviceman" adopted in the first reading radically changes the procedure for receiving a postponement from military service with the purpose of studying. In accordance with it, only those citizens who conclude an agreement with the Ministry of Defense can undertake a postponement, undertaking to undergo military training during their studies, and upon completion of studies to serve in the army in the place specified by the Ministry of Defense for three years. Otherwise, they will be drafted into the army at the age of 18 years for a period of two years. By the way, according to the draft law, persons who are recruited for military service, in addition to studying, can also use the right to defer for family reasons and health. Noteworthy in particular are the benefits provided in case of having children. In this case, according to the draft law, from those compulsory military service those young people who before the conscription can have two or more children, with the exception of the adopted ones, can be released. Another noteworthy point is that from the service in the army, those young people whose wife is pregnant with at least twins and whose gestational age is six months can be released. Parliament, today discusses the draft law "On military service and the status of a serviceman" in the second reading. Artak Zakaryan, Deputy Defense Minister, represents the bill in the parliament.
Against the document are several hundred students who hold protests. And today, five of them (four of these five, served in the army) announced an indefinite hunger strike.