Edmon Marukyan Proposes to Suspend Parliamentary Sessions Until the State of Emergency Ends

The leader of the 'Enlightened Armenia' faction, Edmon Marukyan, proposes to not hold parliamentary sessions until the end of the state of emergency. 'I believe that by calling a parliamentary session now, gathering 130 people and inviting our staff to work, we are setting a bad example, especially after the Prime Minister's recent statement. I suggest discussing it within the factions, and only have council members present in the Parliament, who will be in constant communication. We should not ensure a quorum now, nor approve the agenda, and thereby not hold sessions, especially since we do not have any urgent bills related to the state of emergency,' Marukyan stated at the start of the parliamentary week.

Parliament Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan mentioned that he does not believe such a measure is necessary. 'I think that life goes on, and to set an example, we should not sit at home, but continue our work,' Mirzoyan said, indicating that it is unclear how long the state of emergency will last, thus they cannot remain under this regime for a year.

Marukyan pointed out that even though a state of emergency has been declared, many people are still on the streets, which is increasing the number of infected cases. 'The numbers are increasing because we are treating everything this way. I want to tell you about a country: patient number 31 goes out to celebrate a birth and subsequently becomes the source of infection for 60% of the population. We have MPs who have come from France and other countries, and they have not self-isolated for 14 days; there are many things. If we do not take this seriously, no one in this country will take it seriously. They say, 'oh, this guy is talking nonsense, there's nothing serious,' and day by day, 30-40 cases are added,' Marukyan said, urging a 20-minute break to discuss the issue within the factions.