The drafts for reform proposals to the laws on “Television and Radio” and “Television and Radio National Committee Regulation” were approved by the first reading during an out-of-turn National Assembly session on Wednesday. The proposed reforms were aimed to make the existing laws correspond to the Constitution.
The National Assembly continued the discussion on the dual citizenship legislation on Wednesday. Last week, the National Assembly approved the reforms made to the law on “Armenian Citizenship” granting foreign citizens the right to become dual citizens with 65 for and 5 against by the first reading. The United Labor Party (ULP) voted against the draft and the opposition did not participate in the vote.
The ULP holds that position because it is highly unacceptable for the party to have foreign citizens become ministers of Armenia too. Let’s take notice of the fact that if the ULP did not participate in the vote, the draft would not have been approved because there would be no quorum. So, if the ULP really didn’t want the bill to be approved, it should not have participated in the vote in the first place instead of voting against. As a result, the vote would fail. It turns out that the ULP “shouts yes while being against”. It is worth mentioning that this is something new. “Azgayin Miabanutyun” (National Unity) and “Orinats Yerkir” (Country of Law) factions have done this several times and it is accepted to call these “oppositionists” “constructive”.