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On September 10 the opening of the second session of the National Assembly of the fifth convocation was announced by the anthem of the Republic of Armenia.

At the first sitting of the autumn session the NA President Hovik Abrahamyan first congratulated the Armenian chess players on winning the World Chess Olympiad for the third time.

The Head of the Parliament told the deputies that Viktor Dallakyan was appointed the RA President’s Representative at the National Assembly.

The NA President announced that Raffi Hovhannisian presented an application on refusing his parliamentary mandate by the established order of the RA Law “On NA Rules of Procedure.” The deputy’s authorities are considered suspended, if within 15 days he does not take back his application.

The parliament reaffirmed the composition of the Ad-Hoc Accounting Committee formed in the first session. Hovik Abrahamyan proposed the factions to nominate candidates for creating the Committee on Ethics.

In the first sitting the NA President presented the agendas of the session and current four-day sittings, which the deputies approved and turned to the debates of the draft laws.

The President of the parliament Hovik Abrahamyan and the Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Davit Harutyunyan were proposing to amend the RA Law “On Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly.”

Artsvik Minasyan presented the proposals of the three factions, ARF, ANC and the Heritage, directed to the authors of the draft law.

In his final speech Davit Harutyunyan considered unacceptable the proposal of increasing the number of the deputy’s assistants, at the same time underlining the fact of providing equally three experts to the smallest and the biggest factions.

In his extraordinary speech the NA President and the co-author of the draft law Hovik Abrahamyan has documented that there is no wish to ignore the minority, and the charges are groundless. The Head of the parliament ensured that he would do his best to provide the effective work of the parliament, including the increase of the contribution and possibilities of the opposition. The NA President has noted that conditioned by the correlation of the votes received in the elections it is not possible for all the factions to take part in decision-making process equally, instead the opposition has wide possibilities in extraordinary way to ask questions to the Government during the question and answer session, and the views on the absence of equal conditions are not substantiated. The NA President ensured that days and hours will be defined for the sittings of the committees in order to provide the deputies’ participation. “I am ready for any cooperation for recording results,” the NA President noted, at the same time considering unacceptable the language of demands.

Arpine Hovhannisyan presented for debate in the first reading the draft law “On Amending the RA Criminal Code.”

The RA Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasyan presented the endorsement of the RA Government on the bill.

The RA Minister of Health Care Derenik Dumanyan presented for debate in the second reading the draft law “On Amending the RA Law “On Preventing the Illness Caused by the Human Immune Insufficiency Virus,” and the RA Draft law “On Amending the RA Code on Administrative Infringements.”

The Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Health Care, Maternity and Childhood Ara Babloyan presented the endorsement.

Then the parliament debated the treaty “On Free Trade Zone” signed in Saint Petersburg on October 18, 2011 and the multilateral agreement “On Creating an International Centre for the Developing Landlocked Countries” submitted by the RA President, which presented the RA Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan.

The deputies Hrant Bargratyan and Eduard Sharmazanov presented their views on the treaty.

The deputies of the National Assembly also debated the package of bills “On Amending the RA Law on Trade and Services,” “On Amending the RA Law on Local Duties and Payments,” “On Amending the RA Law on Local Self-Government,” “On Amending the Code of the Republic of Armenia on Administrative Infringements,” and a number of bills.

The National Assembly debated the package of bills “On Amending the RA Law “On Community Service,” and “On Amending the RA Law on Local Self-Government,” which presented the First Deputy the RA Territorial Administration Vache Terteryan.

Vache Terteryan also presented the bill “On Amending the RA Law on Granting the Refugees the Right of Property of Apartments Built for the Deported Refugees from the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1988-1992.”

The Head of the Department of the Management of the State Property adjunct to RA Government Arman Sahakyan presented the RA draft law “On Approving the Annual Report of 2011 of the Programme 2006-2007 State Property Privatization.”

The National Assembly will continue the work of the four-day sittings on September 11.