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On June 12, in accordance with Part 2 of Article 120 of the RA Constitution and Article 48 of the Constitutional Law the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly convened a special sitting of the National Assembly by force of law, the item on extending the state of emergency declared on 16 March 2020 on Making Amendments and Addenda to the decision N 298-N of 16 March 2020 of the RA Government was included in the agenda.

The RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gave a speech. He noted that the Government made a decision on extending the state of emergency for one more month conditioned by the new kind of coronavirus disease (to extend from 13 June from 17:00 until 13 July at 17:00 including). According to the Prime Minister, the goal of this decision is that the reasons of the state of emergency declared still in March have not been removed, and unfortunately, the coronavirus disease in the RA continues to spread.

Presenting the pandemic current situation, Nikol Pashinyan informed that 15281 cases infected by coronavirus disease were recorded until now. 258 people died because of coronavirus, and 86 people died for other reasons, but they were infected by coronavirus. According to the Prime Minister, at this moment 425 patients are in dire states, and 100 people are in the extreme grave situation.

The Head of the Government underlined that the created situation could be overcome only by public behavior changes. In fact, according to Nikol Pashinyan the substantiation of those behaviour changes is important because with the most different forecasts the coronavirus pandemic will exist not only in Armenia, but also in the world for at least one and a half year. There are also assessments that during the upcoming five years the world will be in the coronavirus pandemic. “Certainly, it is natural that during this period great works are done for obtaining, finding out and creating a vaccine, and theoretically that vaccine can be created, approved after three months, one month, but also in the coming three years it cannot be created,” the Prime Minister said. He has expressed conviction that together it is possible to overcome the created crisis and ensure the viability of our people, our Motherland and our country.

See Nikol Pashinyan’s full speech here.

The Prime Minister answered to the MPs’ more than two dozen questions. They mainly related to the implementation of more testing for disclosing the virus bearers, the possibility of the investment of the distance work organization model in the state system amid coronavirus pandemic, the fight against disinformation on the disease, providing medicine to the isolated persons, social support by the medical staff and the decrease of the cash deals.

The representatives of the RA NA Standing Committees and Factions delivered speeches on the item under debate.

The Deputy Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs Ani Samsonyan voiced the cases of the restrictions of human rights in the state of emergency. Speaking about the inviolability of the citizen’s human rights, Ani Samsonyan underlined: “The pandemic showed that the power cannot respect the citizen’s persona, moral, the right to private life and dignity.

According to the Chair of the RA NA Committee on State and Legal Affairs Vladimir Vardanyan, the state of emergency regime supposes restrictions of human rights, today, the freedom of assemblies, and the rights to human life, health are guaranteed. According to the speaker. The restrictions are fair, as in case of state of emergency, as well as beyond it, if there are necessary bases.

The Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration Mikayel Melkumyan, noted that the RA NA Prosperous Armenia always was for establishing state of emergency, presuming that it should be combined with the implementation of the government effective events. According to the speaker, assessment should be addressed to the activity of those responsible for the sphere during several months, especially taking into consideration the increase of the virus bearers during the last ten days.

The Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Territorial Administration, Local Self-Government, Agriculture and Environment Varazdat Karapetyan considered unprecedented the created situation, where the world appeared. “We don’t have community being directly subjected to the order coming from the top,” the speaker underlined. Thus, according to Varazdat Karapetyan, our community should make an independent decision for winning. The MP believes that our community has made that decision, and we are going by the path of winning.

Edmon Marukyan voiced the viewpoint of the NA Bright Armenia. Speaking about extending the state of emergency regime the Head of the Faction distinguished the issue of the citizens’ political and civil rights, noting that the right to voicing their complaint voice should not be restricted by ensuring certain conditions. He proposed the Government to go through the right social targeting and presented recommendations to those citizens, who became unemployed to support the outgoing workers and let them not to pay taxes for a while.

Naira Zohrabyan expressed the viewpoint of the NA Prosperous Armenia touched upon the cases of using force towards the citizens not wearing masks by the police. She talked about the steps taken by the Government in the fight against the pandemic and voiced the derelictions. Touching upon the prices of the masks, Naira Zohrabyan opined that the citizens included at least in the poverty social scale should be provided by masks. To her assessment, we should use everybody’s potential in the fight against pandemic.

The Head of the NA My Step Faction Lilit Makunts has underlined that the coronavirus pandemic is a challenge to the whole humankind, it is still badly studied and the World Health Organization (WHO) and different states, including Armenia change challenges and make rectifications in their actions.

“It is evident that universal mobilization, consolidation of universal efforts, also including in the international arena is necessary for more efficiently overcoming the humanitarian, social, economic problems conditioned by coronavirus,” the Head of the Faction documented. She expressed conviction that Armenia would successfully overcome the difficulties conditioned by pandemic, would come out of all this consolidated, representing in the new world from the positions more beneficial for our state.

Highlighting all voiced speeches the RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made final remarks with the same call of following anti-pandemic rules, addressing several times to the RA citizens, noting to wear masks and save hundreds of lives with that. “The way out of this pandemic depends on one person, and that person is you,” the RA Prime Minister underlined.

The National Assembly ended the work of the special sitting.