The MPs of the National Assembly felt pretty bad yesterday when they found out that they could no longer smoke in the National Assembly lobby, the buffet and other places where smoking isn’t allowed. As a matter of fact, there were “No smoking” signs in the buffet just yesterday. The thing is that the National Assembly has just recently passed a law on smoking called “Limitations on sale, consuming and use of cigarettes”. Citizens are not allowed to smoke in public facilities. As for restaurants, cafes, etc. people can smoke in different areas.
The National Assembly MPs obeyed the law they had passed and started smoking in the hallways. However, journalists caught MP Khachik Manukyan smoking in the lobby. He claimed that he didn’t know that the law was being applied already. In addition, during the government’s question and answer session, journalists also caught Minister of Labor and Social Issues Aghvan Vartanyan smoking in the hall. Leader of the Republican faction Galust Sahakyan was also one of the few smokers in the lobby during the latter part of the day.
“We smoking addicts are not used to having a ban on smoking. There must be some forms of punishment. For example, women may make a big fuss in the house when their husbands are smoking, even divorce them. Here, at the National Assembly, things must be done differently,” said National Assembly MP Hamlet Harutyunyan. He added that he is addicted to smoking. As for MP from Etchmiadzin Hakob Hakobyan, he made an interesting proposal for the ban on smoking.
“If the political parties announce that their members have to be non-smokers, then I think that everyone will quit smoking. The MP’s job is much more important than smoking,” said Hakob Hakobyan and said that he is not a smoker. MP of the Republican faction Armen Ashotyan made a sensational announcement yesterday. He denied the fact that smoking reduces a person’s life span.
“As a doctor, I must tell you that smoking has nothing to do with a person’s life span and health. I am a forensic doctor and I say that it just depends on the person. There is no guarantee that you can increase your life span by living healthy,” said Ashotyan. The latter, as a matter of fact, smokes the most at the National Assembly. He called on MPs not to fight for the rights of non-smokers, but rather smokers. “Fighting for non-smokers’ rights has turned into a sort of obsession.”
In any case, the good thing is that at least this law was applied at the National Assembly. As a matter of fact, this law was what brought the opposition and authorities together yesterday. The members of both sides were smoking in the hallway and discussing different topics. So, we can say that it had a positive outcome.