The parliamentary opposition Armenia and I Have Honor alliances said Thursday that they had rejected an invitation by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to hold a “closed door” meeting to be briefed on recent discussions with Azerbaijan.
In a joint announcement, the alliances said that Pashinyan had rejected their offer to hold an open meeting.
“The opposition factions notified that they will attend the meeting only in open and under equitable conditions that will provide accountability to the people, which was rejected [by Pashinian,]” the political alliances said in their joint statement.
The groups said that “the format of closed-door meetings on issues relating to the Armenian people is unacceptable to begin with,” adding that following previous meetings with opposition forces during last year’s war Pashinyan had“manipulated and distorted” the information.
The statement also said that they were informed about the meeting with Pashinyan through Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan.
Pashinyan held two meetings last week Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels, the first mediated by the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the second, presided over by President Emanuel Macron of France.
The Armenia and I Have Honor alliances have criticized Pashinyan for kowtowing to Baku and Ankara and in their joint announcement framed the talks as “suspicious.”
Pashinyan on Thursday held a “closed door” meeting with members of his Civil Contract party.
