Armenian opposition boycotts parliament session
YEREVAN, November 16. /ARKA/. Opposition alliances Hayastan (Armenia) and Pativ Unem (I have the honor) in the Armenian National Assembly walked out of the session hall today morning in protest against the authorities’ policies.
The secretary of the Pativ Unem faction Hayk Mamijanyan said that the opposition factions had demanded yesterday to convene an extraordinary session of the parliament in order to receive explanations from the government in connection with the situation at the border with Azerbaijan.
"Our demand was ignored by the pro-government majority. Instead, the parliament is going to debate today a draft law on Mercury, which is described in the agenda as important. The MPs from the Pativ Unem faction will return to the session hall when the problems facing our country will be discussed according to the degree of importance," he said.
The head of the Hayastan faction Seyran Ohanyan also said that as a sign of protest the faction will not participate in the regular session of the parliament.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday accused Azerbaijani troops of violating the Armenian border on November 14, however, after negotiations the Azeris pulled back. In a related development Pashinyan replaced Defense Minister Arshak Karapetyan with Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan.-0-
