PanARMENIAN.Net

France to Discuss Bill Criminalizing Armenian Genocide in November

20.05.2006 15:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `The most important role, played in the dropping of
the motion to penalize those who deny the Armenian Genocide in France
yesterday, was undertaken by Parliamentary Speaker Jean Louis Debre,’
the Zaman newspaper writes. Though not customary, Debre, a close
friend of President Jacques Chirac, took the decision of directing the
session where the draft was discussed. It is very rare for
parliamentary speakers in France to chair the sessions where motions
brought by the opposition are discussed. Debre gave the deputies
discussing the first item of the session the unlimited right to speak,
which diminished the time remaining. He twice allotted a break to ease
the tensions that rose because of this. In the statement he made after
the session, Debre said, `We can write the history of neither France
nor its relationships among other nations,’ and repeated once again
that he is against the bill. Nevertheless, the PS must also use its
next `right to determine the agenda’ for the motion to reach the
parliamentary agenda again, which would be possible only in November.

Alexis Govciyan, Chairman of the Coordination Council of the Armenian
Organizations of France, who foresaw the delay of the bill until
November. Even the Armenian associations, the architects of the
project, did not expect the bill to pass in the first attempt.
Turkish analysts note that the discussion is postponed due to coming
parliamentary and presidential elections in France.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress