GREET YOUR VOTERS AT LEAST
Lragir, Armenia
Nov 9 2006
On November 9 the bill on expropriation, which had been voted down
three times, and returned to the parliament with minor unimportant
changes, got 61 votes and was passed on first reading. 11 members
of parliament abstained. Meanwhile, the parliament can pass a law
if at least 66 members of parliament vote. The opposition did not
vote, and if the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, which abstained, had not voted,
the votes of the Republicans and the United Labor Party would not be
enough to pass the law.
Before the meeting of parliament the victims of expropriation
gathered at the gate of the National Assembly and offered the entering
members of parliament to vote against the bill. Only oppositionist
Vardan Mkrtichyan and Aram G. Sargsyan listened to the call of the
victims. Republican Hamlet Harutiunyan and the others "failed to
notice" the people gathered there. Meanwhile Artak Sargsyan, who had
left his political party for the sake of the seat in the parliament,
flew into a fury when one of the protesters advised him to say hello
to his voters.
Artak Baghdasaryan, chair of Victims of Expropriation for Democracy
NGO said the bill must not be adopted because the government rejected
all the proposals offered after the public hearings. And the members
of parliament did not accept the call of Speaker Tigran Torosyan
to vote each for himself. By the way, voting for someone else is a
violation of the bylaws of the parliament. And while the bill was
adopted in the traditional manner of one voting for three, more
and more protesters gathered outside the parliament. The movement
of Armenian mothers for legality joined them. Susanna Harutiunyan,
a member of the movement said everyone who is dissatisfied with
this government are with them. On the proposal of the government,
the National Assembly will hold the second reading of the Bill on
Expropriation within 24 hours after the first reading.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
