Politician calls voting on the emergency bill on March 1 blasphemy

PanARMENIAN.Net - Alexander Arzumanyan, member of Free Democrats party labeled voting on the bill “On legal regime of the state of emergency” on March 1 profanity.

The opposition protested against the bill, he told a press conference in Yerevan. Armenia’s experience shows that “it’s not the people who gain power through violence, but the ruling authorities suppress the people using violence, jail them illegally and eliminate tracks of their crimes,” he added.

“Each person should mind their own business; tycoons and businessmen should not penetrate into political circles to promote their interests. Unfortunately, we see that adopted laws are not implemented properly,” the party representative noted.

Arzumanyan stressed that unfortunately, majority system of elections works in Armenia with any political regime. The ruling elite will make every effort in the upcoming elections to secure majority of votes by forgery, and this is the problem of the society. Therefore, as many observing systems should be established as possible, to watch the elections and ensure they are legitimate.

The politician also said that Free Democrats have not decided yet whether they will run for the elections jointly with Heritage party, saying it will be clear soon.

The National Assembly of Armenia voted on the draft law “On legal regime of the state of emergency”. Following a long voting delay, the law was passed with 67 votes for and 1 against; opposition MPs boycotted the bill and did not vote at all. Immediately after the voting all MPs of the ruling coalition left the hall causing discontent of the Heritage deputies. They believe this was done on purpose, making impossible to compare votes on the board and the number of those present in the hall.

For his part, National Assembly deputy speaker Eduard Sharmazanov urged opposition MPs to name specific names and surname instead of assumptions. Then MPs moved to other issues of the agenda.

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.