Armenia: law on new holiday triggers debates in social networks

The National Assembly of Armenia (Parliament) has approved, in the second and final reading, the bill on amending the Law "On State Holidays and Memorable Dates" by introducing a new state holiday – the Citizen's Day. It will be marked on the last Saturday of April. This year, it will be April 27.

The authorities' opponents assert that the Citizen's Day is timed to the date of Serzh Sargsyan's resignation.

By adopting the law, the new government emphasizes its importance in the 2018 April events in Armenia, Taron Simonyan, an MP from the "Enlightened Armenia" faction, believes.

Social network users express different opinions regarding the new holiday.

Vaan Asatryan has offered, in his Facebook page, to establish a holiday on April 2 in honour of the soldiers who participated in the April 2016 war.

"The fact that the revolutionary authorities have proclaimed The Citizen's Day, in fact, means the day of crowd and anarchy. Same as the date of capture of the Winter Palace, proclaimed by Bolsheviks as the revolution day, is no longer a memorable day in the calendar, the Citizen's Day won't find its place either," Mr Asatryan believes.

Levon Barsegyan, the head of the "Asparez" Gyumri-based Press Club, sticks to a different opinion. He notes in his Facebook page that those who are against the Citizen's Day do not really understand what happened in Armenia in 2018.

According to his version, in 2018, residents of Armenia acquired the right to freedom. He criticized those who believe that the 2018 events are not significant for everyone.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 11, 2019 at 05:25 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.