Armenian vice-speaker: RPA had disagreements over emergency bill

Armenian vice-speaker: RPA had disagreements over emergency bill

PanARMENIAN.Net - Vice speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov commented on Prosperous Armenia member Naira Zurabyan’s remark who said RPA and Prosperous Armenia faced no contradictions over the bill on “On legal regime of the state of emergency”.

Disagreements over the new bill emerged both with coalition partners and within the Republican Party of Armenia, Sharmazanov told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

He quoted the example of MP Rafik Petrosyan who voted against the bill. When asked whether this is violation of the party discipline, Sharmazanov said yes, since Petrosyan opposed the parliamentary group’s position. Vice-speaker also said Petrosyan’s viewpoint became clear on February 29 when he sharply criticized the bill saying it significantly restricts authorities of the parliament.

Sharmazanov did not inform whether Petrosyan’s move will be discussed at RPA meeting.

The National Assembly of Armenia passed today the bill “On legal regime of the state of emergency” with 67 votes for and 1 against; opposition MPs boycotted the bill and did not vote at all.

The new draft law “On legal regime of the state of emergency” was adopted in the National Assembly of Armenia on February 9, 2012 in the first reading. Then Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan called the bill back for amendment.

The revised bill was submitted to the parliament again. Opposition believes this bill is unconstitutional since it gives the President personal authorities to declare a state of emergency (the president consults the prime minister and the speaker of the parliament but takes the decision independently), as well as envisages involvement of army to eliminate the threat that resulted in a state of emergency.

 Top stories
The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering.
Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Yerevan City Council has elected Tigran Avniyan from the ruling Civil Contract as the mayor of the Armenian capital.
The Armenian Parliament on Tuesday, October 3 voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Partner news
---