Ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) parliamentary group leader Galust Sahakyan requested for a 20-minute break after the bill “On legal regime of the emergency situation” was put to vote.

It is noteworthy, that there were 6-8 MPs in the conference room at the moment and the quorum was not secured. However, the quorum won’t be secured and the bill won’t be adopted in case of opposition MPs’ non-participation in the voting process. Up until now RPA members have refrained from commenting due to the break.

On February 9, the National Assembly of Armenia adopted the draft law “On legal regime of the emergency situation” in the first reading. The bill stipulates that emergency situation can be declared in Armenia only provided there are circumstances which directly threaten the constitutional regime, in particular, coup d'etat attempts.

The document also defines the conditions under which armed forces can be engaged during emergency situations. In particular, after an emergency situation is declared, the army can be involved only if the police troops and the National Security Service forces have failed in their tasks.

There were attempts to pass the law “On legal regime of emergency situation” twice in 2007 which have failed due to controversial discussions.

Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan suggested that the National Assembly speaker Samvel Nikoyan should return the bill to the government for amendment.