Armenian parliament lifts martial law

YEREVAN, March 24. /ARKA/. By a vote of 118 to 1 and one abstention the National Assembly of Armenia has lifted today the martial law that was declared after Azerbaijan's aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh last September 27.

The motion was submitted by the two opposition parties represented in the National Assembly- the Bright Armenia and the Prosperous Armenia.

They argued that the martial law was no longer necessary after a Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the bloody war in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone on November 10, 2020.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced earlier this week snap parliamentary elections, which are scheduled to take place on June 20.

According to the Constitution of Armenia, early elections to the National Assembly are held not earlier than thirty and not later than forty-five days after the dissolution of the National Assembly. At the same time, the parliament itself will need at least 14 days to dissolve, since the National Assembly can be dissolved if the Prime Minister resigns.

After the resignation of the Prime Minister, the factions of the National Assembly have the right to nominate candidates within seven days, if this does not happen, then a new election of the Prime Minister is held, in which candidates nominated by at least one third of the total number of deputies have the right to participate. If the Prime Minister is not elected by a majority vote of the total number of deputies, the National Assembly is dissolved by force of law.

Martial law, which was introduced on September 27, 2020, must also be lifted for elections to be held in the country. -0-