convention [Istanbul Convention]. Pashinyan’s regime in the National Assembly drafted an unconstitutional bill, according to which, in case of voting for the referendum, the powers of the chairman of the Constitutional Court and the judges are terminated. I consider it necessary to remind that to say yes to Pashinyan’s unconstitutional initiative means to say yes to the following points. • Ratification of the Istanbul Convention • Propaganda of transgenderism • Abandonment of national “template” • Policy of “paving into asphalt”[an expression Pashinyan made about punishing oligarchs by paving them into asphalt i.e., without remorse] • Separation into blacks and whites• Lack of concept and ‘isms’ in the Artsakh issue • Political arrests • Lack of investment • And finally, say yes to dictatorship”84. It should be noted that the initiative for constitutional change was conditioned by the constitutional crisis caused by the change in the procedure for electing members of the Constitutional Court because of the 2015 amendment to the Constitution. To resolve it, it was proposed to suspend the appointed members of the court until the relevant amendment to the Constitution enters into force, to elect new judges per the procedure provided by the new Constitution. As it becomes clear from the study of the process, it had nothing to do with the ratification of the convention or the examination of the issue of constitutionality. This assertion was another manipulative comment against the authorities, which was circulated not only by the representatives of the former government but also by the persons who are now deputies of the National Assembly (as presented in the previous section).
Manipulations by various public initiatives An announcement was shared on the Internet by the New Generation humanitarian NGO in connection with the training course held with the police officers. The representative of the “Veto” public initiative Narek Malyan made the following note in that regard, “The crime causing elements’ situation in Armenia has sharply increased in all spheres... Now the question is, what is the police doing ... You won’t believe it, but Soros NGOs engaged in LGBT propaganda are conducting training in police…#Soros_merits”85. The “Veto” public initiative, whose representatives spread hate speech against the LGBT community, is presented both this year’s and in the previous year’s annual reports. The fact that these individuals continue to spread hate speech, discrimination, humiliation, and insulting remarks against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity is a direct consequence of the atmosphere of impunity that prevails in the country and that atmosphere has not changed yet, despite the policy adopted by the state bodies in that direction. Posts containing such expressions are accompanied by the dissemination of untrue information, attempts to manipulate them for certain political purposes. members of the Constitutional Court”. 2020. https://www.azatutyun.am/a/30418411.html. [Accessed 29 Sept 2021]. 84 Hayeli.am. “Pashinyan’s Regime clamped an anti-constitutionalinitiative, says Sharmazanov”. 2020. https://hayeli.am/?p=165230&l=am%2F&fb_comment_id=2715893768505644_2715916795170008. [Accessed 29 Sept 2021]. 85 Narek Malian. Blog news reposting a post from the Facebook user. https://blognews.am/arm/ news/658861/ [Accessed 29 Sept 2021].
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