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On February 6 the eleventh session of the fourth convocation National Assembly of Armenia began. Under the sounds of the state anthem the NA Speaker Samvel Nikoyan announced the opening of the last session of the parliament of this convocation. On behalf of the deputies the Head of the Parliament also welcomed the young scientists and students of the State Engineering University of Armenia, who were present at the NA sitting within the framework of the “Open Lesson” programme.

The Head of the Parliament first submitted the draft agendas of the first session, then the four-day sittings, as well as a number of draft decisions on postponements and special order for the deputies’ approval. Before turning to the debate of the agenda items the deputies approved the submitted two agendas. The Heritage faction voted against the session, substantiating that step with the Armenian-Turkish protocols being on the agenda. Armen Rustamyan, the ARF faction representative, expressed concern on the four-day sittings agenda that is on the agenda for a long time and doesn’t consider the draft law submitted by him “On Azerbaijan’s Responsibility for Turning the Nagorno Karabakh Problem to the Armed Conflict, Distorting its Essence and Impeding the Peaceful Negotiation Process.” The NA Speaker in his answer has shared the concern on misrepresenting facts by Azerbaijan and has noted that the statement alone is not sufficient for fighting against it; coordinated steps are necessary.

In accordance with the NA Rules of Procedure, at the beginning of the session the Parliament touched upon the formation of the Audit Commission. It was decided to reconfirm the personnel approved in the previous session.

The Parliament passed by voting the draft laws debated in the previous session and not yet submitted for debate. The draft law “On Restriction of Cash Operations” with enclosed package, did not get the required number of votes. The NA Speaker Samvel Nikoyan and NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov made a noticed on the rejected draft law that it was called for restricting the circulation of big sums of cash, by that, reducing corruption risks and shadow circulation. The NA Deputy Speaker Samvel Balasanyan has noted that the Prosperous Armenia deems rendering such service by the banks ahead of time, conditioned by which they haven’t voted for the adoption of the draft law.

The deputies continued the debate of the 2012 activity programme of the Public Services Regulatory Commission of the Republic of Armenia, which had been left incomplete in the previous sitting. Robert Nazaryan, Chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission, answered the questions concerning the tariffs. He noted that the gas tariffs would not be changed in 2012.

The Parliament debated the draft law “On Amending the RA Law on Food Security” in the second reading.

In the second reading the RA Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan submitted the package of the legislative initiatives “On Technical Regulation,” “On Accreditation,” “On Standardization,” “On Providing Unity of Measurements,” and “On Amending the RA Law on Conformity Assessment” for debate, about which proposals have not been in place.

The Parliament debated the bill “On Amending the RA Law on the Order of Calculating the Time on the RA Territory ” in the first reading.

The legislative package “On Amending the RA Law on Judicial Service” and “On Amending the RA Law on Community Service” was later debated in the first reading.

Artur Osikyan, RA Deputy Head of Police adjunct to RA Government, submitted the bill “On Amending the RA Law on Approving the Disciplinary Rules of the RA Police,” and the RA draft law “On Amending the RA Law on Weapons” for the deputies’ consideration in the first reading.

Artem Asatryan, RA Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, presented the package of the RA draft laws “On Amending the RA Law on State Pensions,” “On Amending the RA Law On Victims of Political Repression,” “On Amending the RA Law on Compulsory Enforcement of Judicial Acts,” “On Amending the RA Law on Social Security of the Servicemen and Their Family Members” and “On Amending the RA Law on passing to Military Service.”

The RA Deputy Defense Minister Ara Nazaryan submitted the bill “On Amending the RA Law on Conscription.”

In the second reading the NA deputies also debated the package of the bills “On Private Guard Activity,” “On Amending the RA Law on Administrative Infringements,” “On Amending the RA Law on Licensing,” “On Amending the RA Law on State Duty,” and the bill “On Amending the RA Code on Administrative Infringements.”

The National Assembly will continue the work of the four-day sittings on February 7.