Pashinyan publishes pen photo as proof that high court's chairman offered him his services

23:32 • 26.01.20

After his recent post promising to publish a fact bearing testimony to his earlier statement that Chairman of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan "offered his services to me", Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took to Facebook again to publish the photo of a pen which claims was Hrayr Tovmasyan's personal gift.

Below is the full text of the his status:

"This is Hrayr Tovmasyan's pen. I was thinking for long whether or not to throw it into the garbage chute.

"Finally, I decided to keep it as evidence of the strangest ever servility and obsequiousness I had possibly seen.

"My first meeting with Hrayr Tovmasyan - after my election as Prime Minister - was at the Hayastan All Armenian Fund's  Board of Trustees session. He was sitting next to me.

"What looked strange was Hrayr Tovmasyan's blatantly obsequious behavior towards to me, a man whose actions resulted in the toppling of the long-lived political team just three days before.

"He was referring to me using exclusively an [obsequious] language like 'Mr. Pashinyan jan', 'Mr. prime minister, jan'. Those 'jans' are  buzzing in my ears until now. He had never, by the way, referred to me using exclusively 'jans' ever since we had been maintaining contact. "

"Then, all of a sudden, he remembered and emphasized the fact that he was the son-in-law of Ijeven natives.

"I had to take a note later but couldn't find my pen. I don't remember whether I asked for it or he noticed me looking for a pen but he offered this 'elitary' pen of his to me.

"I took my notes and made my speech, but my attempts to return the pen became a real story indeed. 'The pen is yours. Take it, I beg you ...' I was somewhat becoming inconvenient in front of cameras.

"To make a long story short, the pen was left to me as the 'pledge of allegiance'. I am now thinking that my subconsciousness probably worked at the moment I took the pen to have ''substantial evidence' now.

"What came next, were the requests for receptions in my office. I accepted none.

"Then July 5 [the Constitution Day] was drawing near. I was getting 'Message-requests' for attending a reception at the Constitutional Court.

"I turned them down - over and over again - as I was coming to realize that the person who had occupied the Constitutional Court was seeking legitimacy in that manner.

"We met at the 2019 Christmas Mass. He started playing up to Anna [my wife], thanking her 'for granting my daughter a scholarship'. As I saw the obsequiousness was crossing all the limits, I said they didn't know who [the grantee] was. Though it turned out really they hadn't [but I have to say that the fact wouldn't affect the decision-making as what mattered had to do only with criteria]."

"Then, the man to whom he has recently made repeated references came to report to me that 'Hrayr has said he has written the Constitution, so why does not the prime minister use my potential?'

" In response, I offered him to go to a faraway place."