On the initiative of the Government on September 26 the President of the National Assembly Mr. Tigran Torosyan called an extraordinary sitting with two agenda issues and two international treaties. Within the framework of the extraordinary sitting the executive body suggests that the legislative body should examine the draft law on Alienation of Property for Public and State Needs, which has passed the first reading. This question became a subject of dispute at the beginning of the sitting. Still during the four-day sittings the MPs had offered to return to the draft law only after holding parliamentary hearings and listening to public opinions. The NA President noted, that there has not been any written suggestion concerning the hearings. Besides, the agenda of the sitting has been determined by the Government, which has also initiated the sitting. The opposition MPs suggested that the discussion of the issue should be broadcasted on Public Television.But as a result of the voting the suggestion was rejected.

The draft law on Making Addendum and Amendment to the Law on Local Self-Governance was adopted in the second reading.

Then the Parliament discussed the draft law on Alienation of Property for Public and State Needs, which had obtained great public sounding, and the draft laws on making amendments to the Land and Civil Codes. The Justice Minister Mr. Davit Harutyunyan presented the draft law, which was reedited after the first reading.

Three factions expressed their viewpoints on the issue.

The Head of the ULP (United Labor Party) faction Mr. Gurgen Arsenyan has one precondition for having a positive position. He considers, that a provision, which makes the public and private interests contradictory, has to be dropped from the draft law.

The Orinats Yerkir Party faction had a negative viewpoint. Mr. Mher Shahgeldyan finds that the discussed issue is of great social-economic significance, and it touches the rights of thousands of people. The MP thinks that the right of people to protect the property is in danger. Besides, there are great risks of arbitrariness and corruption.

The secretary of the Justice faction Mr. Grigor Harutyunyan offered the representative of the Government to take back the draft law and to present it to the Parliament after parliamentary hearings. That is why the faction has not made any suggestion concerning the draft laws.

In the MPs’ speeches there were different evaluations on this issue. Mr. Viktor Dallakyan considers unacceptable that the power of determining the public interest of priority is to be reserved for the Government. Mr. Grigor Ghonjeyan noticed in his speech, that the state and local government bodies, as well as the non profit organizations should be given the possibility to address themselves to the Government with an initiative of recognizing the public interest as a priority one. Tatul Manaseryan proposed a more comprehensive resolution. This week a draft law on Nationalization of Property authored by the MP will be put into circulation. In his final speech Mr. Davit Harutyunyan noticed there have not been complaints or suggestions concerning the mechanism of property alienation and the amount of indemnity.

In order to comply with the amended Constitution and the new Labor Code, the Government suggested amending the law on Trade Unions. The Justice Minister presented to the MPs also the legislative package of amending the draft laws on Television and Radio, on Rules of Procedure of the National Committee of Television and Radio and on State Duty.The Government harmonizes the mentioned laws with the constitutional amendments.

The Government suggests that the National Committee on Television and Radio should consist of 8 members. Four of them shall be elected by the Parliament with a six-year term, and the other four shall be appointed by the President of the Republic.

Using his right of speech Mr. Stepan Zakaryan, MP of Justice faction, conveyed the MPs the disagreement of certain journalistic organizations concerning the presented package. Their statement says that the amendments do not comply with the Constitution, and they are prepared without public debates and ignoring the opinion of the civil society. Also, the documents do not reflect the opinions and suggestions of the international organizations, the provisions recommended by the Council of Europe.

The speeches on the draft laws will continue at the sitting of September 27.