The regular sitting of the National Assembly is being held today, on 26 May. At the beginning of the sitting, the NA Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan announced that according to the decision of the Commnadant conditioned by the pandemic, masks should be worn in the hall of the National Assembly.

“As the Speaker of the National Assembly, I will announce a warning, and if necessary, I will invite all the deputies who do not wear masks out of the hall for 1 day, if necessary, for 7 days,” he said.

Edmon Marukyan, a member of the “Bright Armenia” faction, asked if a mask should be worn during the whole sitting, to which Mirzoyan gave a positive answer, noting, “You have seen from Facebook news or news websites, newspapers that I myself was in a situation where I did not wear a mask in a closed area, I want to say to all of you and to our citizens, yes, I made a mistake, I thought it was a solemn moment, It is the inauguration ceremony of the Artsakh President, both in the closed hall and I did not wear the mask, but I want to admit that it was wrong.”

Edmon Marukyan mentioned that it is inconvenient to speak in a mask in the National Assembly and it cannot be considered a violation of the rules. “I would like to remind you the norm of the Constitution that the state of emergency does not apply to the National Assembly. Therefore, within the framework of the state of emergency, you cannot apply the decisions of the Commandant in the parliament and invite the deputy out, so please, discuss your decision again in the context of the Constitution, which I mentioned,” the deputy said.

The Speaker of the National Assembly countered him, noting that the fact that this step should serve as an example for the citizens, to take care of the health of everyone and everyone’s family members, etc. should be taken into account.

Shortly afterwards, Prosperous Armenia faction MP Gevorg Petrosyan spoke from the tribune without a mask. Ararat Miroyan warned him for not wearing a mask.