On July 13, the RA NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport moderated by Mkhitar Hayrapetyan convened an extraordinary sitting.
The legislative package on Amending the Law on Video and Audio Media and on Licensing authored by the MPs Vahagn Tevosyan, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, Arman Babajanyan was debated in the second reading and was endorsed.
The key speaker and the co-author Vahagn Tevosyan has noted that the majority of the amendments in the revised version of the package are of technical character. As the MP informed, 45 recommendations were received from the Government on the initiative, and most of them were accepted. The MPs Rustam Bakoyan and Aleksey Sandikov proposed their colleagues to fix distinct broadcast time period designed for the national minorities, which was accepted.
The MPs Nazeli Baghdasaryan and Anna Kostanyan also presented recommendations, and part of them was accepted.
The co-speakers the RA Minister of Hi-Tech Industry Hakob Arshakyan and the Deputy Chair of the Committee Hovhannes Hovhannisyan welcomed the amendments made.
The Committee members highly assessed the large-scale work done during the period from the first to the second reading.
Let us remind that the goal of the legislative package is to ensure the right of everybody for receiving reliable information, the independence of the body regulating the sphere of video and audio media services, the government activities of media services and the independence of control implementing body, the protection and the development of the video audio information territory, guarantee editorial independence and expression of opinion and assist and develop the diversity of the video and audio programmes.