What if they shout "junkie" or "dealer" after you, Artur Surenyants?
In 2017, while still working as a journalist, Civil Contract (QP) MP Artur Hovhannisyan was implicated in a drug-related case. The case was subsequently dropped, and he did not face criminal prosecution.
On November 28, 2017, Hovhannisyan and his passenger, Gevorg Savtalyan, were detained and taken to the Kanaker-Zeytun police station on suspicion of illegal possession and use of narcotics.
A search of the vehicle revealed 0.24 grams of a yellowish-green substance.
On December 5, a criminal case was initiated under Article 266, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (illegal trafficking of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances for the purpose of sale). It would be logical for Nikol Pashinyan to try to find out why the criminal case against this MP from his party was dropped—whether the investigator was bribed, or if Hovhannisyan, having been caught for drug use or dealing, was "recruited" by the police.
In a broader sense, a requirement to pass a drug test should be legally imposed on candidates for MP, alongside other criteria.
In that case, perhaps "accidental" figures like Artur Hovhannisyan wouldn't end up in parliament, trying to assert themselves by slapping labels on Gagik Tsarukyan and other respected individuals.
Then again, a "zero"—a person who has created no value or results—cannot truly assert themselves, even if they are crawling under Pashinyan’s coattails.
The simple fact is that, for this type of MP, even the basic instinct of self-preservation fails to kick in; had his brain not been hopelessly "fried," he wouldn't address respected figures by their underworld nicknames. After all, if we follow his logic, many could shout "junkie" or "pusher" Arthur at him.
The tragedy lies in tolerating this sort of person in parliament; one day, having emerged from under Nikol’s coattails, you will find yourselves in the same state you were in back in 2017—the state of a moral bum.
Suren Surenyants
