Involvement of army in domestic processes is unacceptable, ARFD member says

PanARMENIAN.Net - ARFD parliamentary faction leader Vahan Hovhannisyan commented on the bill on legal regime of the emergency situation adopted in the National Assembly in the first reading and submitted to the government for review.

Hovhannisyan said the previous format of the draft law was unacceptable. “One thing is clear: in any case, involvement of army into domestic political issues is unacceptable because it contradicts the Constitution,” he declared.

Hovhannisyan also deems unacceptable adoption of such decisions by the president only.

Instead of trying to involve army in such processes, internal troops and relevant departments of the security bodies should be strengthened, ARFD member said.

He drew attention to the circumstance that instead of preparing for normal elections to avoid events like March 1, 2008, the authorities are getting ready for a similar development of situation.

On February 9, the National Assembly of Armenia adopted the draft law “On legal regime of the emergency situation” in the first reading. The bill stipulates that emergency situation can be declared in Armenia only provided there are circumstances which directly threaten the constitutional regime, in particular, coup d'etat attempts.

The document also defines the conditions under which armed forces can be engaged during emergency situations. In particular, after an emergency situation is declared, the army can be involved only if the police troops and the National Security Service forces have failed in their tasks.

There were attempts to pass the law “On legal regime of emergency situation” twice in 2007 which have failed due to controversial discussions.

Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan suggested that the National Assembly speaker Samvel Nikoyan should return the bill to the government for amendment.