NA special session fails for lack of quorum 

ArmInfo. An extraordinary meeting of parliament, convened by the opposition to discuss the  issue of the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, did not take place due to lack of quorum. The ruling Civil Contract faction boycotted the meeting.

Only 34 deputies were registered at the meeting out of the required  54. According to the law, there are still 4 hours for the deputies to  appear, but it is obvious that they will not come.

Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan, in a conversation  with journalists, answering a question about the reasons for the  absence of deputies from the ruling force at the meeting, asked the  question why they should accept the message of the opposition?

"Why should we serve the false agenda of the opposition, with which  it is trying to justify its presence here? Citizens trust the  government and the Prime Minister. We have no reason to even discuss  such an issue. We are not involved in formalities," Simonyan said. 

"The opposition wants to make a message, rather than initiate a vote  of no confidence, because it understands that it is not capable of  more, either from the point of view of people's support or from the  point of view of its activities," Simonyan added.

In turn, Secretary of the "Armenia" faction of the National Assembly  Artsvik Minasyan, referring to the failed parliamentary meeting,  expressed the conviction that this was an attempt to overthrow the  constitutional order.

"The Constitution obliges deputies to ensure the normal functioning  of parliament. In particular, Article 100 provides that a session  convened by at least 25% of deputies must be held. The parliamentary  majority cannot cancel parliamentary sessions by taking advantage of  its numerical advantage," Artsvik Minasyan noted.

Last week the parliamentary opposition initiated an extraordinary  meeting of the National Assembly, the agenda of which included only  one issue: discussion of the call for the resignation of the  government headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

At the same time, a rally of supporters of the "Tavush for the  Motherland" movement, led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, is taking  place in front of the parliament building.