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SCANDAL IN PARLIAMENT: PROSPEROUS ARMENIA MP CALLS IT A 'SHOW', HHK MP ADVISES NOT TO 'DELVE DEEP'
epress.am
02.10.2012
National Assembly deputy chair and Prosperous Armenia member Samvel
Balasanyan sees nothing wrong in Prosperous Armenia (BHK) boycotting
the first meeting of the first parliamentary session this year.
"There was one important bill we didn't vote on [referring to the bill
on banning cash transactions; anyway,] the bill wasn't adopted. Our
parliamentary faction discussed it and we came to the conclusion
that this bill needs to become law, but it's not the right time,
so we didn't vote," he said at a press briefing today.
On the matter of lawmakers voting for absent colleagues, which was
evident in Thursday's meeting, Balasanyan was frank, saying that
basically the card system isn't justified.
He dubbed what happened in parliament yesterday a "show," which was
useless to cover up.
At the same time, Balasanyan tried to justify his colleagues' behavior,
stressing that he has 13 years of experience working in parliament
and knows that it's likely that lawmakers will be absent during an
election campaign period, since many are dealing with issues tied to
the majority ballot and many are on business trips.
Galust Sahakyan, head of the Republican Party of Armenia's
parliamentary faction, in turn, commented on yesterday's incident with
the following: "The closer the elections get, the more the stabbing
increases and the press get excited."
He also ruled out the possibility that his colleagues might be voting
for others, but this was recorded by not only reporters and camera
operators covering parliamentary activities, but also the National
Assembly's own CCTV cameras.
In response, Sahakyan said he can neither refute not confirm this news.
"Because I'm not involved in investigation work as reporters are,
I would simply advise reporters not to delve deep into these types
of matters. It's clearer than clear that those bills which are put
to a vote are passed with the most votes in favor," he said.
epress.am
02.10.2012
National Assembly deputy chair and Prosperous Armenia member Samvel
Balasanyan sees nothing wrong in Prosperous Armenia (BHK) boycotting
the first meeting of the first parliamentary session this year.
"There was one important bill we didn't vote on [referring to the bill
on banning cash transactions; anyway,] the bill wasn't adopted. Our
parliamentary faction discussed it and we came to the conclusion
that this bill needs to become law, but it's not the right time,
so we didn't vote," he said at a press briefing today.
On the matter of lawmakers voting for absent colleagues, which was
evident in Thursday's meeting, Balasanyan was frank, saying that
basically the card system isn't justified.
He dubbed what happened in parliament yesterday a "show," which was
useless to cover up.
At the same time, Balasanyan tried to justify his colleagues' behavior,
stressing that he has 13 years of experience working in parliament
and knows that it's likely that lawmakers will be absent during an
election campaign period, since many are dealing with issues tied to
the majority ballot and many are on business trips.
Galust Sahakyan, head of the Republican Party of Armenia's
parliamentary faction, in turn, commented on yesterday's incident with
the following: "The closer the elections get, the more the stabbing
increases and the press get excited."
He also ruled out the possibility that his colleagues might be voting
for others, but this was recorded by not only reporters and camera
operators covering parliamentary activities, but also the National
Assembly's own CCTV cameras.
In response, Sahakyan said he can neither refute not confirm this news.
"Because I'm not involved in investigation work as reporters are,
I would simply advise reporters not to delve deep into these types
of matters. It's clearer than clear that those bills which are put
to a vote are passed with the most votes in favor," he said.