Channel 5 reporter spreads disinformation

Channel 5 journalist Aghvan Asoyan, on Novermber 11^th issue of the “News” program airing 12:30p.m.  referred to one of the speeches made at the National Assembly. The reporter particularly noted that Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, currently an MP representing My Step faction and former Deputy Minister of Education and Science, was part of the former corrupt government.

The Fact Investigation Platform decided to check whether the former deputy minister of education and science had a connection with the previous authorities.

First, it should be noted that the journalist refers to the former Deputy Minister of Education and Science, speaking about his speech during the discussion of the rejected bills that were introduced by the Prosperous Armenia Party.

Hovhannisyan, in particular, said in his speech: “It should be noted as a reminder that in the old days when the government was mired in corruption, nobody recalled the salaries and pensions.”

The journalist then says that the MP himself was part of that corrupt government. “The same Hovhannes Hovhannisyan is part of the government that is mired in corruption, as mentioned by him. Moreover, not just a small part: he was the deputy minister of education and science.”

The discussion was related to the Draft Law on Making Amendments to the RA Law on State Pensions, which was not included in the agenda of the plenary sessions of the National Assembly.

The bill intended to address the issue of introducing a new system for calculating pensions for citizens who have more than one job. It is supposed to also include the number of years for all the jobs combined, which is not done under the current law.

Now let’s look at the reporter’s statement about Hovhannes Hovhannisyan’s relationship with the former government. Hovhannisyan currently holds the position of Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport.

Hovhannisyan was appointed Deputy Minister of Education and Science after the revolution on May 22, 2018.

Hovhannes Hovhannisyan’s activities until 2018 have not been linked to the former authorities in any way.

He is a theologian by profession and has taught in several universities of Armenia before the revolution. He is also a lecturer in the Chair of History and Theory of Religion at Yerevan State University. In 2014 he founded the Institute of Public Policy (co-founder).

Thus, the Channel 5 reporter’s statement that Hovannisian was part of the former government is false.