National Assembly Approves Bill for Written Voting by Temporarily Inactive MPs Due to Health Reasons

The National Assembly has adopted in the first reading the bill proposed by MPs Vladimir Vardanyan, Anna Karapetyan, Haik Gevorgyan, and Vahagn Hovakimyan, which amends the constitutional law "Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly." The bill received 80 votes in favor, while 18 MPs voted against.

It is important to note that the rapporteur of the draft, Vahagn Hovakimyan, stated that they are proposing to grant the right to written voting to MPs who are temporarily incapacitated for health reasons. However, several other MPs from the "My Step" faction opposed this proposal, including co-author of the bill Vladimir Vardanyan, who announced that the draft would be revised before the second reading. According to him, the draft should specifically relate to those MPs who are in isolation or quarantine at the instruction of competent authorities due to the pandemic.