Epress.am News from Armenia
The Armenian government is in contempt of the National Assembly, by bringing forth dozens of laws without [putting them up for] public debate, head of the Armenian National Congress parliamentary faction Levon Zurabyan told reporters today, commenting on the non-ruling parties' decision to boycott today's special session of parliament.
"They will go and poke around and bring their MPs to ensure quorum; the issue is something else — we conducted a campaign and undermined quorum. Their action is a contempt of the National Assembly and of the Republic of Armenia," said Zurabyan.
Earlier, only 65 Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) MPs were present when the session began after parliamentary speaker Galust Sahakyan was forced to postpone it by 3 hours. After the meeting was postponed for an additional 25 minutes, additional MPs were found and asked to attend the meeting to ensure quorum (which is 66 MPs). At the start of the session, Sahakyan chided opposition MPs for attempting to disrupt the normal activities of parliament.
Draft laws submitted by the government are being presented in the session currently underway. Discussion of these bills is passing quickly, as a majority of opposition MPs continue not to participate in the discussion and only HHK MPs are asking the government questions.