Armenian parliament adopts emergency bill

March 1, 2012 - 13:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian parliament adopted the bill “On legal regime of the emergency situation” with 67 votes for and 1 against following a long delay of the vote.

The opposition MPs boycotted the vote preferring not to participate in the process at all. After completion of the vote, all parliamentarians of the ruling coalition left the conference room, which sparked Heritage party members’ resentment. They deem it a deliberate move to make it impossible to compare results on the panel and in the hall. National Assembly vice-speaker Eduard Sharmazanov urged opposition MPs to name specific names.

The atmosphere was very tense prior to the vote. Heritage party MP Zaruhi Postanjyan stood up to follow the process. NA speaker Samvel Nikoyan asked her to take her seat, while ARF Dashnaktsutyun member Vahan Hovhannisyan in response said that MPs have the right to be in any part of the hall. Nikoyan further said that parliamentarians can clearly see the voting panel and compare results from their seats, with Hovhannisyan noting that the whole scene is more spectacular than the penal.

Tensions further escalated with RPA member Manvel Badeyan dubbing several MPs prison guards, which is extremely unpleasant.

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.