ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. Citizens of Armenia will be able to come forward with an initiative to hold referenda. 

ArmInfo. Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Gagik Harutyunyan resigned on March 5.

ArmInfo. The National Assembly of Armenia at the meeting on March 1 in the second and final reading made amendments to the law "On Police" and a package of related laws.

ArmInfo. Armenian parliament unanimously adopted a statement on the Sumgait pogroms.

ArmInfo. The National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh in connection with the 30th anniversary of the massacre of the Armenian population in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait, on February 28 adopted a statement on the Sumgait pogroms.

ArmInfo. The National  Assembly of Armenia, at a meeting on February 28, a minute of silence  honored the memory of the innocent victims of the Sumgayit massacres.

ArmInfo.The National Assembly of Armenia, at a meeting on February 27, began discussions on candidates for members of the Supreme Judicial Council, which, under the new Constitution, will replace the Justice Council.

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo. The parliamentary majority of the National Assembly of Armenia failed to include in the agenda of the meetings the draft amendments proposed by the "Tsarukyan bloc" faction in the RA Electoral Code. In favor of the submitted document, 39 deputies voted at 56 against.

ArmInfo. Deputies of the factions of the Republican Party of Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun, in accordance with the fifth part of Article 139 of the Constitutional Law "Rules of the National Assembly", nominated Armen Sargsian, RA Ambassador to Great Britain.

ArmInfo. Despite the fact that Article 125 of the Constitution of Armenia has not yet entered into force, this does not restrict the right of the National Assembly to  elect the 4th president.

ArmInfo.The legislative initiative, which assumes the participation of the Human Rights Defender in meetings of the Armenian government exclusively at the  invitation of the RA Prime Minister, does not in any way narrow the terms of reference of the Armenian Ombudsman. This was in response to a request to ArmInfo, the press service of the Armenian Ombudsman office reported.

ArmInfo.Article 125 of the Constitution of Armenia establishes the order of the presidential elections as a whole, it does not concern the election of the 4 president of Armenia.  The expert on international law, lawyer Ara Ghazaryan stated this in a conversation with ArmInfo correspondent, referring to the allegations of some experts that Article 125 of the Constitution, providing for secondary presidential elections (that  is, by voting in the parliament of the Ed.), Comes into force in the first day of the beginning of the authority of the 4th President of RA, therefore, the new president should be elected according to the old system, that is, by direct ones - of the national elections.

On February 16, the Lithuanian people will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Lithuanian State. On this day in 1918, at a meeting in Vilnius, the Lithuanian Council, authorized by the people, claimed the restoration of an independent democratic Lithuanian sState.

ArmInfo.The National Assembly of Armenia will hold an extraordinary meeting immediately after the regular session on February 27. The decision on this was taken during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on February 15.

ArmInfo.President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev visited the National Assembly on February 12, where he met with Parliament Speaker Ara Babloyan.

ArmInfo. The Republican Party of Armenia intends to nominate incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan as the candidate for the country's prime ministers. With such a statement on February 9 from the rostrum of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, the head of the opposition parliamentary faction "Yelk" Nikol Pashinyan made a speech.

ArmInfo. Armenia will apply  international standards of road signs and signals The National  Assembly of Armenia at the meeting on February 8 ratified the  international convention on road signs and signals (with  reservation).

ArmInfo. The chairman of the State Committee of Water Resources of Armenia does not rule out that in the course of 2018 there will be a need for additional water releases from Lake Sevan. "At the present time, it is impossible to talk about what volumes are involved. However, if the weather conditions are poor, the additional water intake from Lake Sevan will be an unavoidable measure," Arsen Harutyunyan said at a meeting with journalists on February 6, answering the question of ArmInfo. According to Harutyunyan, in 2016, compared to 2015, the water level in Lake Sevan rose by 27 cm, thus keeping the trend of recent years. The exception was the year 2014, when the water level fell by 2-3 cm and then 2017 - with a decrease of 3-4 cm. This situation was caused by dry weather and as a result of an additional water supply from the lake. Over the past 15 years, the government has resorted to this measure due to irrigation problems several times. This winter, was unusually stingy for precipitation. As a result, the year became unfavorable in terms of accumulation of water reserves in reservoirs. To date, about 25% of the required norm has been accumulated, instead of the envisaged 30%. However, risks are already visible, because as of today even in comparison with 2016, also unfavorable in terms of sediment, in the reservoirs of Armenia the accumulated water volume is 75 million cubic meters less. Only in the Akhuryan reservoir is not enough 56 million cubic meters of water. The State Committee, according to the head of the department, is positive, as the Armenian weather forecasters promised that the second half of February and March will be rich in precipitation, which will mitigate the situation. Nevertheless, short-term precipitation, as Harutyunyan admitted, can only moisten the soil. The level of snow cover in the highlands is also insufficient. However, according to him, his department does not sit idly by. Measures have been taken to restore 14 deep wells in the Armavir region and 23 more wells will be drilled. Negotiations are also being conducted with Russian companies to import mobile pumping stations. "In any case, we will use the right for water intake from Lake Sevan at a rate of at least 170 million cubic meters," concluded Arsen Harutyunyan. On July 17, 2017, the National Assembly of Armenia approved amendments to the program "On restoration, conservation, reproduction and use of the Lake Sevan ecosystem", according to which in 2017 volumes of water releases from Lake Sevan from 170 million cubic meters were increased up to 270 million cubic meters. The reason for the increase in releases was the fact that the fullness of the Aparan and Azat reservoirs was 17 million cubic meters less than in the previous one, and the Hrazdan River is less than 40 million cubic meters full. In addition, the Akhuryanskoye reservoir was filled with 105 million cubic meters less. Despite the fact that the Ministry of Nature Protection of Armenia opposed the proposal to increase the water intake from Sevan, and independent experts unanimously reiterated that the decrease in the water level in Sevan will lead to irreversible consequences in connection with the intensification of the bogging process, the bill was adopted, that, like expected, reflected at the level of Lake Sevan.