ANOTHER THREE STANDING COMMITTEES IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Lilit Poghosyan
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on May 27, 2008
Armenia
By the initiative of the MPs the Parliament convened an extraordinary
session yesterday to make amendments and supplementations in NA
regulations and the laws regulating the spheres of state governance
and civil service.
According to the proposed draft law on the amendments in the NA
regulation-law, the bill previews to increase the number of the
standing committees in the National Assembly by three. The first
one will regulate local self-governmental issues and territorial
governance, which used to be under the authority of the state legal
committee, the second one will take on the social issues, which
is presently under the proceeding of the committee regulating the
sphere of health, the third committee will undertake agricultural
and environmental issues.
Member of "Orinats Yerkir" party Hovhannes Margaryan introduced the
bill, by his own signature. Later it turned out that the coalition
partners have also joined this legislative initiative in the person of
Samvel Nikoyan, member of "Bargavach Hayastan" Party Naira Zohrabyan
and MP belonging to Dashnaktsutyun Party Ara Nranyan.
There was an opinion that by this initiative the coalition intended
to partially meet the affectations of "Heritage" party, ensuring one
or two positions in the standing committees. But the pro-oppositional
power apposed to the initiative from the beginning.
Hovhannes Margaryan substantiated his legislative initiative by the
requirement to bring NA activity in compliance with the international
standards.
"Our main objective is to give chance to the standing committees to
hold more detailed discussions regarding certain spheres, because
it is the chief standing committee that gives final conclusion to
NA discussions.
International practice shows that each sphere must be regulated by
a certain committee.
There was a concrete question regarding the territorial governance
and local self-governmental issues. We used to have similar committee
headed by Khosrov Harutyunyan and it justified itself.
The main approach is, that we need serious, radical amendments in this
or that sphere, then it must be implemented by the adoption of new
bills and laws. For example by proposing to separate the committee
on social issues from health we mean that there are really serious
issues accumulated in that system for the solution of which we need
new reforms. Moreover the budget of 2008 is of social direction and
in this respect it would have been right to have a separate committee
to regulate the radical reforms to be made in this sphere."
"How many leading positions does "Orinats Yerkir" party expect in
the newly set up committees?"
"Naturally as a full member of coalition "Orinats Yerkir" party must
be represented in NA committees as well. The same was in the previous
coalition and I don’t see anything extraordinary in this issue. The
Constitution gives us an opportunity to have 12 committees in the
National Assembly and even the Parliament of 2007 could form these
12 committee."