We Should Have Given People Money to Stay Home, We Didn’t, Opened Up to Avoid Spending, and Here We Are: Marukyan

We should have given people money to stay home, we didn't, we opened up to avoid spending, and here we are. This was stated by Edmon Marukyan during a session of the National Assembly on July 13, noting that lifting restrictions led to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.

During the discussion on the extension of the state of emergency, he raised the question of whether it is possible to maintain these restrictions without a legal state of emergency and insisted that there is a definite opinion among the people that the state of emergency should not be extended. He emphasized that the stance of the “Enlightened Armenia” party is that it is illegal because the state of emergency cannot be extended for more than 30 days in Armenia. According to the deputy, this issue will be addressed by the investigative committee that will be formed in the parliament soon.

“We do not see that the government shows that the situation is being managed, that solutions are being proposed in this situation, and problems are being solved,” declared Edmon Marukyan.

He recalled a statement made at a government meeting: “They say we provided support to people; they went to the bank, stood in line, got infected. What should we have done, not provide support?”

“No actions have been taken towards resolving the banking burdens of thousands of people,” Marukyan stated, asserting that he confirmed this during meetings with villagers who insisted that no help was provided to anyone individually. The same is true regarding tax and customs administration issues, where fines and penalties are imposed for all delayed loans.

The deputy reminded that the government has rejected all of the opposition’s proposals, noting, “They say we know everything, we are managing it all. Today it was mentioned during the discussion that there were conceptual mistakes, but it is not stated what those mistakes are.”

There were laughs from the audience. Edmon Marukyan asked who was laughing.

A response came from the “My Step” faction: everyone.

“So thousands of people are infected with the coronavirus, and you’re laughing? The people are facing famine, and you’re laughing? People, this is the laughter of the ‘My Step’ majority, I hope you won’t be laughing in the investigative committee,” responded Edmon Marukyan.