ArmInfo. In Armenia, referendum may be prohibited in a state of emergency and martial law. The National Assembly at the meeting on June 1 in the first reading amended the constitutional law "On the referendum".
Its adoption required the presence of at least 3/5 of the votes of the elected representatives.Before the vote, the Enlightened Armenia faction refused to vote, the faction leader Edmon Marukyan stated that the package was unconstitutional and contained a lot of controversial points. In turn, the deputy from the Prosperous Armenia faction Naira Zohrabyan asked for a 20-minute break, after which, however, the documents were adopted by 83 votes in favor and 16 against.As the author of the presented document noted, according to the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, MP from the ruling faction "My Step" Vahgn Hovakimyan, is forbidden to hold referenda in a state of emergency or martial law. It should take place after they are eliminated. on time no earlier than 50 days and no later than 65 days.
The deputy noted that everything was ready for the referendum on constitutional reforms, which envisaged to solve the problem of the Constitutional Court, however, the state of emergency was announced and the referendum could not be held. "At the same time, it is unclear how events will develop further. Questions remain about what will happen to the campaign headquarters" Yes "and" No ", with commissions, etc. We discussed the current situation with representatives of the government and the CEC. Thus, it is proposed that the National The meeting will be able to cancel the decision made by the parliament to hold a referendum. I would like to emphasize that the parliament can only make such a decision in a state of emergency or martial law. If the parliament does not make such a decision, the referendum process will resume, "Hovakimyan said. He emphasized that such measures are simply necessary. "The fact is that if the heads or members of the commissions are appointed, they are exempted from draft and mobilization. And in conditions of martial law, these members of the commission will not be called up, even if they themselves want to be mobilized. This issue concerns our security," said deputy.Hovakimyan noted that the main goal of the abolition of the referendum is to preserve the health of citizens.
"We fear the coronavirus pandemic, which has swept not only Armenia, but the whole world, and does not intend to endanger the health of our citizens, for us the most important thing is protectionThe health of our citizens, "the deputy concluded.It should be noted that on February 6 the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia adopted a decision on submitting draft amendments to the Constitution to the referendum. 88 deputies voted for this decision, against 15. It is a question of introducing amendments to Article 213 of the Constitution, providing for the dissolution of the Constitutional Court. A referendum on constitutional amendments was scheduled for April 5 this year. However, due to the coronavirus epidemic, it had to be postponed.