19:52, 6 February, 2020
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 6, ARMENPRESS. The National Assembly of Armenia declined at the 1st reading the bill on Constitutional amendments, which suggested suspending the powers of the President of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan and members of the Constitutional Court. ARMENPRESS reports 36 MPs voted against the bill and 87 abstained.
Before the voting, Vice Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan said that “My step” bloc will abstain. “The crisis over the Constitutional Court must be solved through referendum”, he said.
Head of “My step” parliamentary faction Lilit Makunts and member of the faction Vahagn Hovhakimyan announced earlier that their political force wants to put the issue of the Constitutional amendments to national referendum. “The power in Armenia belongs to the people. The people implements its power through free elections, referendums”, Makunts had said, adding that putting the issue of suspending the powers of key bodies of the country to referendum can significantly decrease undue tensions and keep the country away from shocks.
Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan