Lawmakers Oppose Government: They Were Angry, Says 'Zhoghovurd'

According to 'Zhoghovurd' newspaper, the National Assembly yesterday approved the package of legislative proposals submitted by the government in the first reading, which allows interference with the personal data protection, privacy, freedom of communication, and rights to confidentiality during the state of emergency caused by the pandemic. In other words, it becomes possible to locate individuals.

It should be noted that after heated discussions in the parliament, the package of legislative proposals to amend the Law on the 'Legal Regime of the State of Emergency' and make amendments to the 'Electronic Communication' law received 57 votes in favor, 24 against, and 1 abstention during yesterday's extraordinary session.

It is noteworthy that the draft was submitted just hours before the session began and faced criticism from both opposition lawmakers and human rights defenders.

However, according to 'Zhoghovurd' newspaper, the author and supporter of such regulations has been the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyan, and there are also members within the 'My Step' faction who oppose these regulations and consider them incorrect.

Furthermore, several lawmakers met with the Deputy Prime Minister yesterday to discuss this draft. The lawmakers were angry because they opposed the draft and proposed regulations but could not speak out aloud to avoid giving the impression of division within the team. In reality, almost no one wants the draft to pass in this form in the second reading as well.

This was also evident during the voting; many lawmakers chose not to participate in the vote on the draft, showing their disagreement in this way. Among those who did not participate in the vote were Lusine Badalyan, Vladimir Vardanyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Narek Zeynalyan, Lena Nazaryan, Viktor Yengibaryan, Vagarshak Hakobyan, and Nazeli Baghdasaryan. In addition, many absentees were noted in yesterday's extraordinary session of the National Assembly.

For more details, refer to today's issue of the newspaper.