Nikol Pashinyan has been consistently advocating for the preservation of the norm of 2018 since his arrival. During a press conference held on June 12 by the “Armenia” faction in the National Assembly, Ararat Mirzoyan, the leader of the faction, spoke about the importance of upholding this norm. He expressed concern that the current bill being discussed in the National Assembly regarding “Preservation” does not adequately regulate or enforce this norm.

Additionally, the spokesperson highlighted that the norm of preservation in terms of artistic rights is still being violated. When this issue was raised, the Minister of Culture mentioned that they are working on addressing the technicalities. However, according to the spokesperson, it is crucial to preserve the norm and ensure that there is a clear indication of adherence to it.

Ararat Mirzoyan further emphasized that internal defenders are actively obstructing peaceful gatherings and harassing protestors with differing political opinions. Despite these actions, the spokesperson pointed out that the protestors are not receiving appropriate responses or remedies.

“It is noteworthy that out of the 26 cases of administrative fines mentioned, none of them have been found to be violations according to the law,” the spokesperson remarked.

The spokesperson also brought attention to the regulations of the Law on Preservation, which state that the mandatory function of the Public Defender of Human Rights of the Republic of Armenia should be agreed upon with the Ministry of Defense and fall under the jurisdiction of the RA Ministry of Defense. However, currently, it is solely being used for citizen identification purposes.