Artsakh National Assembly Adopts Constitutional Amendments in First Reading

On October 27, the Artsakh parliament held a regular session of the 6th convocation, presided over by the parliament’s leader, Arthur Tovmasyan. Before the session commenced, the parliament leader made a series of announcements. A change was made in the ‘Justice’ faction, whereby MP Karen Hovhannisyan withdrew from the ‘Justice’ faction based on his application.

The next announcement concerned a special session called for October 30 at 15:00, initiated by all political forces of the Artsakh Republic Parliament, as well as an assembly dedicated to the dignified and secure future of the Artsakh Republic. “The organizer of the special session is the Speaker of the National Assembly, together with the deputies of the parliamentary factions and the staff, whereas the organizer of the rally is the resident of Artsakh who is concerned about the fate of their homeland. I assure you that the agenda of the rally does not include political issues,” emphasized the Speaker of the National Assembly.

Following the confirmation of the parliamentary session and agenda, the parliament proceeded with the work of the session. The first issue on the agenda was the annual report on the activities of the Artsakh Republic Audit Chamber for 2021, presented by Chamber President Tigran Tsatrtyan. The report consists of three parts: the first and second pertain to budget reports, while the third is an analysis of audit results. It includes the budgetary years from 2018 to 2021, has executed 4 programs, and compiled 25 reports. Over 40 million drams of discrepancies and over 103 million drams of irregularities have been discovered, with most pertaining to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure.

The chamber president provided clarifications on issues related to the report. Next on the agenda were the discussions on legislative initiatives. The proposed bills had previously received approval from the main committees. The parliament voted in favor of a package of bills including amendments to the Law on Profit Tax, amendments to the Law on the Human Rights Defender, amendments to the Civil Procedure Code, amendments and additions to the Law on Advocacy, and amendments and additions to the Law on Mental Health, receiving 30 votes in favor.

The bills regarding amendments and additions to the Law on the State Budget of the Artsakh Republic for 2022, as well as amendments and additions to the Law on State Registration of Property Rights, were adopted as laws with 32 votes in favor. The parliament voted 29 votes in favor of the amendment package concerning the Law on Licensing. The “Constitutional Amendments of the Artsakh Republic” draft law was adopted in the first reading with 30 votes in favor.

By the proposal of the main reporter, the deadline for presenting written proposals regarding the constitutional amendment draft law adopted in the first reading by the National Assembly has been set to November 1 of this year, by 17:00. The session concluded with announcements from MPs Gagik Bagunts and David Galstyan.