Will you judge the Russian President for recognizing Artsakh as part  of Azerbaijan? - Alen Simonyan to opposition 

ArmInfo. The dominant parliamentary faction "Civil Contract" voted down the proposal to put  on the agenda the draft amendments to the Criminal Code, which provided for the criminalization of the recognition of Artsakh as part of another state and the belittlement of the Armenian Genocide. 

Thus, as the secretary of the opposition faction "Armenia" Artsvik  Minasyan noted in his speech, the ruling majority ignored the demand  of over 58 thousand citizens of the country who signed the  initiative.  Minasyan emphasized that the current ruling majority in  the country's parliament is illegitimate, since it has deceived the  country's citizens by not fulfilling their election promises and  neglecting basic democratic norms.  

"By refusing to include the issue on the National Assembly agenda,  the ruling majority is sending a signal that everyone should forget  about what they promised. They do what they need to do at the moment  to preserve their own seats. And it is no coincidence that government  officials avoid mentioning the word "Artsakh" in every possible way,  giving preference to the expression "Nagorno-Karabakh", the  parliamentarian said.

In response, Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of  Armenia Alen Simonyan noted that he does not understand where the  opinion about the authorities' alleged refusal to use Artsakh as the  name of Nagorno-Karabakh came from. He emphasized that there is  nothing like this and never has been. The opposition, having  presented the bill, at this stage became a prisoner of its own  initiative. "To save face, you constantly demonstrate that this  problem is the most important at the present stage. If we are guided  by your approaches, then the question arises: will you judge the  Russian President for recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan?  Thank you for this revelation, because there are people who consider  you to be a pro- Russian opposition, which I believe to a lesser  extent. As for preserving the chairs, I would like to remind you that  these chairs are not the ones you are used to holding. Today to be in  power is the biggest cross that its representatives bear," he said. 

On August 31, the Hayakve initiative transferred the collected 58  thousand signatures to the Central Election Commission of Armenia.  The required number of them was transferred ahead of schedule. The  collection of 50 thousand signatures makes it possible to submit to  parliament a legislative initiative to criminalize the denial of the  right to self-determination of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and  leveling the significance of the Armenian Genocide. On September 25,  the CEC verified the signatures and allowed the bill to be submitted  to parliament. If parliament does not accept the amendments, and this  scenario is the most likely, since the party in power has a political  majority, then the next stage begins - collecting 300 thousand  signatures to hold a referendum on the future of the Republic of  Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.