Armenian Justice Minister advises MP to re-read Constitution

PanARMENIAN.Net - The opposition Heritage party’s parliamentary group leader Stepan Safaryan blamed the new bill for violating provisions of the Constitution, in particular, the principle of separation of powers.

“In this version the law usurps authorities of the National Assembly,” he said during the parliamentary debates on the draft law “On legal regime of the emergency situation”.

For his part, Armenian Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasyan said if Safaryan sees violation of the principle of separation of powers here, his perception of the bill is distorted, and he’d better re-read the Constitution of Armenia. Minister emphasized that centralization of power is based on the essence of emergency situations, and nobody wants to seize the power of the parliament.

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.