YEREVAN. – The Bright Armenia Party will vote against this legislative initiative, as it not only does not solve the existing problems, but also creates new ones. Edmon Marukyan, chairman of the opposition Bright Armenia Party and head of its parliamentary faction, stated this at Friday’s special session of the National Assembly (NA) during which the package of bills on making amendments and addenda to the law on ensuring the sanitary and epidemiological safety of the population and to the related laws are being debated on.

According to him, Bright Armenia was proposing to pass to a new regimen for 3-4 months and not to constantly extend the current coronavirus-related  state of emergency in Armenia, as, according to him, it causes irreparable damage to the country. "Now we are offered a legislative package that will allow setting quarantine for up to six months; but this will create new problems," Marukyan explained.

The MP noted that the government and lawmakers can discuss other options, at least replacing the term "quarantine" with something else.

As reported earlier, the NA has already passed this law initiative in the first reading.

As per this package of bills introduced by the government, in case of spread of infectious diseases, outbreaks and emergencies in Armenia, the provincial governors or the mayor of Yerevan can declare quarantine at the corresponding administrative departments—and at the suggestion of the authorized state body: the Ministry of Justice.