The lawmaker, Hovik Aghazarian, found himself under criminal investigation and was expelled from Civil Contract after declining Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s resignation “request” texted to him on November 17. Last week, Pashinian shared with senior party members transcripts of Aghazarian’s personal communication stored in his mobile phone confiscated by a law-enforcement agency.
The party’s ruling board on December 3 accused Aghazarian of leaking classified information to media. He denies the accusation.
In an interview with Factor.am, Hakob Aslanian, another Civil Contract deputy and a friend of Aghazarian’s, condemned fellow members of Pashinian’s political team for accessing and using Aghazarian’s private data for political purposes. Aslanian said he too has read the transcripts and found no state secrets or other sensitive information endangering national security in them.
He announced that he is therefore suspending his party membership for one month. He threatened to leave the party’s parliamentary group if Civil Contract fails to come up with more convincing arguments in support of Aghazarian’s ouster.
“I am seeking justice,” Aslanian said, adding that he is not afraid of facing a similar crackdown.
Armenia - Deputies from the ruling Civil Contract party attend a session of the National Assembly, Yerevan, March 21, 2023.
There was no immediate official reaction to the announcement from Pashinian’s party. But one of its senior members, Arsen Torosian, condemned Aslanian’s and Aghazarian’s behavior as “political treason.”
Just a few hours later, Aslanian posted on his Facebook page a statement calling his comments “wrong and emotional” and saying that he will remain a member of Pashinian’s party and “act in accordance with the decisions of the party's governing body and parliamentary faction.”
Aslanian also briefly posted a screenshot of his private communication with High-Technology Industry Minister Mkhitar Hayrapetian which showed that the text of the statement was sent to him by the latter. Hayrapetian said afterwards that he “helped” the 70-year-old lawmaker and his former schoolteacher to write the statement.
It was not immediately clear what caused Aslanian to backpedal so quickly. He did not return phone calls.
The change of heart did not stop Civil Contract’s parliamentary group from ousting Aslanian from its ranks later in the evening. The group’s secretary, Artur Hovannisian, said Aslanian is refusing to give up his parliament seat.
Pashinian stated on December 4 that “political, moral, and other levers” will be used to strip Aghazarian of his parliament seat. The only legal way of doing that is to lift the lawmaker’s immunity from prosecution, put him on trial and convict him of a crime.
The premier also sent on November 17 resignation “requests” to another pro-government lawmaker and six senior government, law-enforcement and judicial officials. They all stepped down in the following days. The resignations were widely construed as being part of Pashinian’s efforts to boost his flagging popularity before general elections expected in June 2026 or earlier.
Some analysts say Pashinian fears that Aslanian’s defiant stance could set a dangerous precedent and undermine his authority within the party. Hence, according to them, the unprecedented pressure exerted on the 64-year-old parliamentarian who has always defended the current government against opposition attacks.
In his interview with Factor.am, Aslanian implied that other Civil Contract deputies are also unhappy with what is being done to Aghazarian.
“There are people who are broken, there are people who are upset, there are people who are in favor of everything being done fairly but don't speak out,” he said.