Nikol Pashinyan gathers people for a rally

ArmInfo. On October 2 RA  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan appealed to the people to immediately  gather near the building of the National Assembly of Armenia.  

According to him, a message was received about the intentions of the  Republican Party at an extraordinary meeting of the parliament today  at 19.30 to drag the previously discussed scandalous bill, which in  fact makes an attempt to hamper the early dissolution of the  parliament. The Prime Minister called to gather in front of the  parliament building at the corner of Demirchyan and Baghramyan  streets. He also appealed to the deputies not to attend this meeting,  let alone vote on the bill "The Rules of the National Assembly." Note  that the bill of the vice-speaker of the National Assembly Arpine  Hovhannisyan and the deputy from the Tsarukyan faction Gevorg  Petrosyan on adding to the law on the NA regulations became a  stumbling block between the parliamentary forces. The document, which  provides for the lawful suspension of NA activities in case of force  majeure, strongly disliked the deputies from the ruling bloc "Elk",  who in that they saw the political overtones aimed at ruining the  early parliamentary elections.

In fact, the bill, if adopted, will create the opportunity not to  convene the NA sitting on legal grounds, if there are force majeure  situations, meetings of pressure on deputies. That is, the plans of  the ruling party to exert pressure on parliamentarians to dissolve  the National Assembly by street actions may fail, since the draft law  gives deputies the opportunity in such cases not to hold meetings or  make decisions. "This bill demonstrates the fears of the RPA and  their associates in connection with the forthcoming parliamentary  elections," said the head of the Yelk faction Lena Nazaryan from the  rostrum of the parliament, adding that the document has a clear  political connotation and is aimed at realizing the party's  particular interests.  Another deputy from the Elk faction Hayk  Konjryan, referring to the forces supporting this bill, said that the  elected representatives of the people should coordinate their actions  in accordance with the will of the people, and not oppose it.  "Otherwise, no one can guarantee the repetition of the May events of  the current year, but I think that for all this is an extremely  undesirable scenario," the parliamentarian said.

Edmond Marukyan also representing the faction "Elk" said that the  program of the government, approved by the parliament, fixed the  provision on early elections, and they will be held. "It's another  matter that we want to achieve this through political consensus, but  there is no doubt that early elections in Armenia will take place,"  he said. Meanwhile, all other forces in the matter of holding early  elections consolidated around the Republican Party against the Yelk  bloc, almost the same way as they had rallied around the Yelk bloc  and its leader Nikol Pashinyan against the RPA months earlier. So,  the deputy of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" Armenyi Kuregyan, despite the  early statements of the ARFD about the need for early elections,  assured that now does not see the imperative in their conduct, since  in this case a one-party power system will reign in Armenia. "We  already have a similar situation in the Council of Elders of Yerevan,  where 80% belongs to the bloc" My step. "Let's see how this system  will affect the government of Yerevan, if it justifies itself, then  apply it throughout the republic. into the hands of a political force  that did not have enough time to prove itself, "Kuregyan said.

MP from the Tsarukyan bloc, Louise Simonyan, addressing the deputies  from the Yelk bloc, urged them not to speculate on the results of the  Prosperous Armenia party in the Yerevan elections: "Just a few months  ago, the third president Serzh Sargsyan reproached you with the same  7% of votes received in the elections. He said that the party that  received 7% in the elections cannot dictate a political agenda, but  you can see for yourself how events are developing. So, before you  reproach us with our 7% in the Yerevan elections, remember this. " In  turn, Mikael Melkumyan, vice-speaker of the parliament from the  Tsarukyan bloc, stated that the government violates the agreement  with the parliamentary forces. "Initially, it was decided to hold  elections in June 2019, what happened now, what need to rush them,  why are we being pressured?" The vice-speaker was outraged. Another  vice-speaker of the parliament, Eduard Sharmazanov, said that no one  has the right to exert pressure on deputies, every parliamentarian  must vote according to his conscience. "The National Assembly was  elected legally until 2022, and it should act until that time. I  personally do not intend to vote for the dissolution of the  parliament under any pressure," he said, stressing that Pashinyan  comes up with new initiatives every day. "He said that the elections  should be held after the amendments to the EC, which was not done,  after the constitutional amendments providing for the self-  dissolution of the National Assembly, which also does not exist, in  June 2019, and now he says that by the end of this year. We cannot  adjust to the mood of the prime minister every time, "he noted.  Sharmazanov also touched upon Pashinyan's statement from the United  Nations tribune, in which he accused the former authorities of  authoritarianism: "With which authoritarian country does the EU  conclude an agreement on comprehensive expanded cooperation, in which  authoritarian country is it possible that opposition deputy Nikol  Pashinnya has his own faction of 9 people and implemented velvet  revolution.In an authoritarian country there is no bloodless  revolution.Our agenda should be the topic of ensuring security and  solving social and economic problems.For these 5 months there was a  promise economic development, investments, new jobs, and it's not the  fault of the parliament that all this is not there. "The dissolution  of the parliament will not help the implementation of government  programs," the vice-speaker summed up. It should be noted that today  the Vice-Speaker of the Parliament Arpine Hovhannisyan proposed to  introduce in the Law on the NA Rules of Procedure a clause to  regulate force majeure or extraordinary circumstances, preventing the  holding of both current and special or extraordinary sessions.  Regulation concerns two aspects, if a meeting cannot be held, because  a quorum is not ensured and if there is a necessary quorum for  holding a meeting, but an obstacle is created for the participation  of deputies in them. Then it is proposed to suspend the meeting and  continue it after the elimination of the impeding circumstances. At  the same time, Hovhannisyan assured that the document has no  political connotation.