Armenian parliament votes down governance crisis bill

The parties then insisted on urgent discussion, but the bill was not discussed because the parliament was busy. 

On Monday, the bill was eventually put on the National Assembly's floor and sparked hot debates between the authorities and the opposition and inside the opposition as well. 

As a result, only 16 MPs supported the bill, while 67 voted against it and six abstained. Prosperous Armenia, the second biggest faction, missed the discussion and vote saying it was boycotting the session because of the complicated and tense political situation inside the country.  

Levon Zurabyan, head of Armenian National Congress faction, presenting the bill at the session, said that the country leadership's activity resulted in failure everywhere – in economy, social sector, foreign and domestic policies etc. 

«And this led to massive migration.We can't afford to be slow – it is necessary to pass this statement and find a way out of the situation,» he said. 

Eduard Sharmazanov, vice-speaker from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, pointed out that the absence of Prosperous Armenia MPs from the session shows discord inside the opposition. Edmon Marukyan, an MP who has taken up his seat in the National Assembly in an individual race, sharing Sharmazanov's opinion, said that a new generation should come to the politics. 

In his opinion, new-generation politicians will struggle for new values. Nikol Pashinyan, a lawmaker from the Armenian National Congress, stressed that the current authorities will stay in power at least for another two decades. 

He said there is no institutional opposition in the country which has a clear idea of what it will do if rules the country. Pashinyan proposed to replace super leaders in the opposition with super teams. ---0-----