Controversial Bill on Emergency Rule Passes 2nd Reading in Parliament

With 68 lawmakers voting in favor, a bill regulating the rule of law during a state of emergency passed its second reading in parliament this afternoon.

Recall, the bill was already adopted by the National Assembly in the first reading less than a month ago. As RFE/RL’s Armenian service reported, the government withdrew and modified it after being accused of preparing ground for future use of the armed forces against political dissent. Under the law, the president of the republic can turn to the military for help if police and other security forces are unable to enforce emergency rule. In that case, military personnel will be allowed to use riot equipment and live ammunition in accordance with an Armenian law on the police.

In today’s voting, parliamentary opposition parties the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun, or ARF-D) and the Heritage Party, both of which oppose the bill, did not vote.

“Accept this as a political stance,” said Heritage Party MP Armen Martirosyan, adding that the way the bill is being passed is completely unacceptable.

First of all, he pointed out, public hearings on the matter weren’t held. Furthermore, yesterday’s voting was postponed because the ruling Republican Party of Armenia wanted to ensure it had a sufficient number of its deputies present to vote for the bill, he said.

ARF-D faction leader Vahan Hovhannesyan (widely spelled as Hovhannisyan) thanked those deputies who didn’t vote, saying they didn’t find another way to fight the bill.

“I hope that those who voted in favor of the bill don’t see in the near future the serious consequences of their short-sightedness,” he added.