Speaking in the National Assembly on Monday, Hripsime Hunanian said that Armenian male students enrolled in foreign universities deserve to be exempt from compulsory military service. She seemed to imply that they are more intelligent than their peers drafted to the armed forces.
“Our state doesn't just need soldiers, our state also needs [smart] heads who will help develop various branches of the state,” said Hunanian.
The remarks provoked a storm of criticism on social media. Some senior members of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, notably Health Minister Anahit Avanesian, also rebuked Hunanian, saying that she must not denigrate Armenian soldiers.
The party’s governing board appears to have discussed the resulting controversy at a meeting late on Tuesday chaired by Pashinian. A short video released by Civil Contract showed Hunanian speaking during the meeting.
The lawmaker affiliated with Pashinian’s party announced the following morning that she is resigning as chairwoman of the parliament committee on healthcare. She also said she will not run in Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections on the Civil Contract ticket.
“Some of my recent thoughts expressed in the National Assembly have been criticized by a number of our citizens,” Hunanian wrote on Facebook. “Let me apologize for my formulations which in one way or another have caused the anger and discontent of our beloved citizens.”
Civil Contract, which controls the parliament, controversially installed Hunanian as committee chairwoman just three months ago. Opposition lawmakers and other critics said she is not qualified for the post given her lack of professional experience and even a university degree.
“Who said that everyone should have a higher education … There is care and love hidden behind my little biography,” Hunanian countered at the time.
According to that biography, the 33-year-old worked only as a hospital nurse prior to being elected to the parliament in 2021.
Hunanian also raised eyebrows with other statements made by her in recent months. In particular, she openly mocked Catholicos Garegin II to voice support for Pashinian’s controversial efforts to depose the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
“Garegin II -- that’s what we call someone who has nothing to do with saints and holiness at all -- I am making a responsible statement that I am also the Holy Virgin Hripsime and the father of my son is Saint Sergius, the patron saint of lovers,” she declared.