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Reporter's Notebook: Covering the Antics Inside the National Assembly
Grisha Balasanyan
hetq
15:45, June 7, 2011
MP's at the RA National Assembly will be off for vacation during the
next three months and will not have to show up at legislative sessions
once every two weeks.
Some MP's, it seems, are on constant vacation. Those with outside
business interests hardly show up for work at the parliament and
couldn't care less about the "measly" 315,000 AMD monthly salary. They
have more profitable business deals to hammer out.
No wonder that the more "entrepreneurial" MP's try all the tricks to
avoid showing up at the parliament.
Would you be surprised to learn that some even go so far as to get a
"doctor's note" excusing them from their legislative duties?
Those claiming a variety of maladies include Tigran Arzakantsyan,
Haroutyun Pamboukyan, Samvel Aleksanyan, Levon Sargsyan, Ruben
Hayrapetyan, Sedrak Saroyan, Mikayel Vardanyan...
Even though last week saw the close of the National Assembly's ninth
session of the fourth convocation, MP's will still be obligated to
show up at the parliament to present draft bills or participate in the
workings of the various committees. But try telling that to
legislators like Samvel Aleksanyan or Levon Sargsyan.
And don't even mention the normal procedure of staying in contact with
voters in your district. Do you really think they give these concerns
a second thought?
National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamyan tends to believe that
their doctor's notes are above board. He criticized us reporters
instead for not believing that our MP's are actually sick and need to
recuperate.
Sure when the TV cameras are turned on our 131 MP's come across with
serious, hard-working faces, ready to tackle the issues of the day.
All it takes, however, is to step inside the parliament for these
positive impressions to be dispelled.
Many MP's just show up for the fun of it. They like to vote for bills
proposed by the government and reject those brought to the floor by
the opposition. They don't even get acquainted with the bills.
As independent MP Tigran Torosyan (and former National Assembly
President) puts it most of the delegates vote the way they are told,
and it's the government that tells them how to vote.
Statistics show that it's the executive branch that proposes 70% of
all the draft legislation. All the MP's have to do is sit back and
vote accordingly.
At best, the MP's make some minor cosmetic changes to the bill. This
is the extent of their legislative service.
There is then a rush to leave the chamber. Some retire to their
offices for a well deserved shot of whiskey, others make a bee-line to
a favourite restaurant and a few work on getting beneficial business
legislation to the parliament floor.
Those left are the opposition ARF MP's and a handful of coalition
MP's. Heritage Party delegates have long since decided to boycott the
sessions.
Reporters are only allowed into the parliament during the first thirty
minutes of any session. We then have to leave and watch the
proceedings from separate monitoring rooms outside.
The antics inside never cease to amaze me.
Some MP's play games on their cell phones and some seem to be napping
on their cushy Chinese imported chairs.
Many of the MP's like to while away the time in friendly banter with
neighbours and cast votes for them if others are absent.
Prosperous Party MP Robert Zakaryan deems it his sacred duty to press
the voting button for Vahagn Makhsoudyan, who sits next to him,
whenever he is absent.
Republican Party MP Galust Sahakyan does the same for Edward Sharmazanov.
As of October, 2010, the MP's have been "working" in a renovated and
modernized parliament chamber.
The RA government funded renovations to the tune of 481 million AMD.
In addition, the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)
allocated $500,000 to refurbish the chamber with the latest technical
equipment.
You would think that all this money would spur our legislators to
actually get down to the business at hand. No such luck.
Sure, the parliament is my beat as a reporter.
But don't think I derive any pleasure from covering the goings on at
the National Assembly.
After reading just some of what goes on inside, I'm sure you'll understand why.
From: A. Papazian
Grisha Balasanyan
hetq
15:45, June 7, 2011
MP's at the RA National Assembly will be off for vacation during the
next three months and will not have to show up at legislative sessions
once every two weeks.
Some MP's, it seems, are on constant vacation. Those with outside
business interests hardly show up for work at the parliament and
couldn't care less about the "measly" 315,000 AMD monthly salary. They
have more profitable business deals to hammer out.
No wonder that the more "entrepreneurial" MP's try all the tricks to
avoid showing up at the parliament.
Would you be surprised to learn that some even go so far as to get a
"doctor's note" excusing them from their legislative duties?
Those claiming a variety of maladies include Tigran Arzakantsyan,
Haroutyun Pamboukyan, Samvel Aleksanyan, Levon Sargsyan, Ruben
Hayrapetyan, Sedrak Saroyan, Mikayel Vardanyan...
Even though last week saw the close of the National Assembly's ninth
session of the fourth convocation, MP's will still be obligated to
show up at the parliament to present draft bills or participate in the
workings of the various committees. But try telling that to
legislators like Samvel Aleksanyan or Levon Sargsyan.
And don't even mention the normal procedure of staying in contact with
voters in your district. Do you really think they give these concerns
a second thought?
National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamyan tends to believe that
their doctor's notes are above board. He criticized us reporters
instead for not believing that our MP's are actually sick and need to
recuperate.
Sure when the TV cameras are turned on our 131 MP's come across with
serious, hard-working faces, ready to tackle the issues of the day.
All it takes, however, is to step inside the parliament for these
positive impressions to be dispelled.
Many MP's just show up for the fun of it. They like to vote for bills
proposed by the government and reject those brought to the floor by
the opposition. They don't even get acquainted with the bills.
As independent MP Tigran Torosyan (and former National Assembly
President) puts it most of the delegates vote the way they are told,
and it's the government that tells them how to vote.
Statistics show that it's the executive branch that proposes 70% of
all the draft legislation. All the MP's have to do is sit back and
vote accordingly.
At best, the MP's make some minor cosmetic changes to the bill. This
is the extent of their legislative service.
There is then a rush to leave the chamber. Some retire to their
offices for a well deserved shot of whiskey, others make a bee-line to
a favourite restaurant and a few work on getting beneficial business
legislation to the parliament floor.
Those left are the opposition ARF MP's and a handful of coalition
MP's. Heritage Party delegates have long since decided to boycott the
sessions.
Reporters are only allowed into the parliament during the first thirty
minutes of any session. We then have to leave and watch the
proceedings from separate monitoring rooms outside.
The antics inside never cease to amaze me.
Some MP's play games on their cell phones and some seem to be napping
on their cushy Chinese imported chairs.
Many of the MP's like to while away the time in friendly banter with
neighbours and cast votes for them if others are absent.
Prosperous Party MP Robert Zakaryan deems it his sacred duty to press
the voting button for Vahagn Makhsoudyan, who sits next to him,
whenever he is absent.
Republican Party MP Galust Sahakyan does the same for Edward Sharmazanov.
As of October, 2010, the MP's have been "working" in a renovated and
modernized parliament chamber.
The RA government funded renovations to the tune of 481 million AMD.
In addition, the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)
allocated $500,000 to refurbish the chamber with the latest technical
equipment.
You would think that all this money would spur our legislators to
actually get down to the business at hand. No such luck.
Sure, the parliament is my beat as a reporter.
But don't think I derive any pleasure from covering the goings on at
the National Assembly.
After reading just some of what goes on inside, I'm sure you'll understand why.
From: A. Papazian