In a barrage of daily social media posts made this week, Anna Hakobian used words like “donkey,” “idiot” and “fool” to attack opposition activists, public figures and other citizens critical of her government-backed activities.
“I continue to propose and hope that the quality of our public speech will change and rise from the bottom. As long as this proposal is ridiculed and attacked, my response will be adequate,” she wrote on May 18 at the start of her outbursts that have shocked many in Armenia.
Hakobian described as a “louse” a Nagorno-Karabakh-born activist highly critical of the Armenian government who lambasted her in a newspaper interview. Another citizen was branded by her a “stupid, illiterate, idiotic, brainless person huddling in a remote village.”
Hakobian’s posts prompted critical or offensive comments from some readers. One of them, a newspaper columnist and a vocal Pashinian critic, wondered: “So are we what you call fools or what your husband calls morons?”
“Both,” replied Hakobian.
Alen Simonian, the Armenian parliament speaker and a leading member of the ruling Civil Contract party, defended Hakobian’s posts when he was asked by journalists to comment on them earlier this week.
“In today's chaotic mass media and social media landscape, I believe that everyone is free to respond in whatever way they want,” said Simonian, who infamously spat at a heckler in downtown Yerevan two years ago.
Lilit Galstian, an opposition lawmaker, condemned Hakobian’s offensive rhetoric, saying that it has exposed her and her husband’s true selves.
“They managed to carefully hide their dumb essence, but we are now seeing their unmasking,” Galstian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
As recently as on May 7, Pashinian again lost his temper on the parliament floor after deputies from the main opposition Hayastan alliance accused him of turning a blind eye to corruption among members of his entourage. The premier insulted and threatened to jail them.
His wife’s offensive statements contrast with the official aim of her “Getting Educated Is Fashionable” campaign launched a few months ago. Hakobian has visited several towns and villages across the country and held indoor meetings with local residents as part of that campaign. Pashinian has spoken during some of those meetings reportedly attended by many local government officials and other public sector employees.
“We, the rest of us, need to be educated to become more literate, kinder, more skilled, more professional, more prosperous, and happier,” Hakobian said in a recent Facebook post.
Like Pashinian, Hakobian is a former journalist and newspaper editor. The 47-year-old mother of four has kept a high profile throughout her husband’s seven-year rule, fueling opposition speculation that she exerts strong influence on his decisions and policies.
A charity founded and led by Hakobian has come under growing opposition and media scrutiny in the last few years. In one of her controversial posts this week, she angrily denied allegations of a lack of financial transparency in its activities.
