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On February 3 the fifth session of the fifth convocation of the National Assembly was announced by the anthem of the Republic of Armenia.

The NA deputies in a one-minute silence respected the memory of junior lieutenant Armen Hovhannisyan, who died courageously fulfilling his duty in ceasing the Azerbaijani diversion action in the morning of January 20.

The NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan informed the deputies that through the ARF proportional electoral list NA deputy had become Mikael Manukyan, and at the sitting of the Heritage faction Rubik Hakobyan had been elected Head of the faction, and Tevan Poghosyan Secretary.

At the first four-day sitting of the spring session the National Assembly approved the draft laws of the agendas of the session and the four-day sittings.

Then the deputies touched upon the item of formation of the NA Ad-hoc Counting Committee. The Head of the RPA faction Galust Sahakyan proposed to replace 7 members with 11, according to the proportion of the number of factions, allocating 5 to the RPA, 2 to the PAP, and one member to other factions. The proposal, to which the opposition factions were against, was accepted by voting.

The NA deputies also touched upon the formation of the NA Ad-hoc Committee on Ethics. The NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan proposed the factions to present candidates.

The National Assembly continued the debate of the bill submitted by the co-author Arpine Hovhannisyan “On Amending the RA Labour Code.”

The NA deputies also debated the package of bills “On Social Guarantees of the Persons Occupying State Posts” and “On Amending the RA Law on Constitutional Court,” returned to the National Assembly by the RA President’s objection and recommendation, which presented the RA Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.

The National Assembly debated the item “On Creating the RA NA Ad-hoc Committee on the Study of State Duty and Gas Price Formation from 2011 in the Sphere of Gas Supply of the Republic of Armenia” authored by Tevan Poghosyan, Armen Rustamyan, Aram Manukyan and Elinar Vardanyan, which submitted the co-author of the draft law Aram Manukyan, representing the viewpoint of the PAP, ARF, ANC and Heritage factions.

Aram Manukyan has noted that from April 2011 the RA state debt has been formed for the RA imported gas from the RF, and the substantiation and legality of forming and covering is disputable.

The NA deputies’ viewpoints were different and contradictory on the expediency of creating a Committee.

In the word of the NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan, the RPA has no aim to hide any illegalities, as some deputies insist: vice versa, the political majority is always for punishing those taking illegal steps, but first we should examine and reveal the truth. In the NA Speaker’s opinion the supporters and initiators have not chosen right the format of creating the Ad-hoc Committee.

The NA factions will present their viewpoints on the issue under debate at February 4 NA sitting.