Thursday, 10 April 2014
National Assembly members make legislative initiatives Government’s findings vary
At today’s Cabinet meeting, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Territorial Administration Armen Gevorgyan, the Government, among other issues, considered a number of initiatives made by some National Assembly members.
In particular, the MPs suggest amending Article 124 of the Code of Administrative Offences with a view to establishing responsibility for non-compliance with requirements of the markup indicating the position at which drivers can halt vehicles. The authors of the proposal find that the amendment provides for proportionate liability for low-risk offences.
While the Government does not object to the bill, however, considering the ongoing activities of the task force for study of road traffic statistics, invites the sponsors to revisit the issue after the completion of said activities.
Another legislative initiative is aimed amending the law “On political parties,” which, according to the authors, stems from the fact that the law commits political parties to audit the size of assets that exceeds the specified threshold. Thus, those parties with scarce resources find themselves in a precarious financial position. The MPs propose to apply the audit requirement to such parties with an annual turnover above a specific threshold.
The Government, in turn, favors such a revision of the bill, when the audit will not be held if the party submits to the competent authority a statement that there was no change of party assets in the reporting year. The Government considers that the Bill will be subject to approval only if the above proposal is accepted.
The Government discussed a draft amendment to the law “On games and gambling houses,” which was moved in the form of a legislative initiative by Edmond Marukyan and Alexander Arzumanyan. The draft proposes that those individuals having caused material losses to their families due to a gambling hobby and recognized as inadequately active, will be banned entry into gambling houses. Essentially supporting the project, the Government is of the view that the draft needs amending and is going to make relevant suggestions.
The Government examined the draft law “On approval of annual integrated programs for restoration, preservation, reproduction and use of underground waters in the Ararat Valley,” which as the legislative initiative was presented by MP Lyova Khachatryan. The draft law is based on an expert opinion as approved in 1984 that the industrial stock of underground waters in the Ararat Valley’s artesian basin is reliable and realistic and does not need to be reassessed. According to the Government, a series of legal acts have already been developed and approved to address the challenges of effective use of water resources in the Ararat Valley. The Mp was proposed to work with the Government in order to introduce a uniform package of draft laws.
The aforementioned bills and the Government’s findings in due course will be submitted to the National Assembly.
