“Your faction members came, stood and said, ‘Dear citizens, believe in change.’ The people did not believe in your change, did not elect you, and distinguish reality from manipulation,” said Hasmik Hakobyan, a member of the Civil Contract faction, in her speech addressing the ‘Strong Armenia’ faction and MP Marianna Ghahramanyan in the National Assembly:
“You say that during the elections, Public Television did not provide equal airtime. You are correct; it was not equal, you were given more time. Public Television called for debates 4 times, and you rejected each time, which is why there was an impression that we appeared more, and you less:
Ms. Ghahramanyan, as a journalist, I do not recall you inviting me or my colleagues even once as journalists,” Hakobyan stated:
She noted that during the pre-election period, the faction made the most populist promises but did not receive sufficient votes. This, according to the MP, is a result of the people beginning to distinguish populism from reality:
“We do not want a citizen who can work and earn, for example, 200,000 drams, to not work and receive 20,000 drams in social assistance. Therefore, we are implementing numerous programs to ensure that citizens do not rely on bribes, handouts, and other forms of assistance. Our programs are already yielding results,” Hakobyan added:
She mentioned that the number of poor and extremely poor people has decreased:
