18/03/2014 20:10
Tovmasian: Bad language subject closed as long as I am minister
The opening ceremony of Justice Academy was held in Yerevan today. The ceremony was attended by President Serzh Sargsyan and Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasian who responded to questions of reporters. In response to a question of Tert.am concerning the incident that took place in the National Assembly about a month ago, Hrayr Tovmasian said that the issue is closed for him as long as he holds the ministerial position.
- Mr. Minister, a month has passed since the incident between you and deputy Armen Rustamian. Can we say that it has been settled?
- You know, I will not consider the bad language used in the National Assembly as an incident. In general, foul language is absent from my vocabulary, but if someone decides that he can speak with me in such a language, then I may characterize him by using all the lexical meanings of the uttered word and also other similar words. Perhaps he will need them for his biography.
I thought that the person you mentioned would find the strength to apologize both to the people in whose presence the words were uttered and to Minister Hrayr Tovmasian. There is no need to apologize to Hrayr Tovmasian.
As I already said, the use of such words in our reality never remains unanswered and will not be resolved by an apology, but my position rules out an answer at the moment. For me, this question is closed as long as I hold the ministerial position, and everybody will learn what will happen later – I am sure.