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Several MPs of Armenia’s National Assembly were caught on tape while voting instead of their absent colleagues at an extraordinary session of the parliament at the end of last year. The video along with an application was submitted by a female reporter, Lilit lalayan, to the Ethics Committee of the Armenian NA, Panorama.am learned from the reporter.

According to L. Lalayan, deputies of the parliamentary faction of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Spartak Melikyan, Hamlet Harutyunyan, Karen Saribekyan, Seyran Saroyan, Arakel Movsisyan and Arshak Mkhitaryan as well as deputy of opposition ‘Prosperous Armenia’ faction Bazmaser Arakelyan violated the norms of parliamentary ethics by voting instead of absent MPs.

“We know that Ethics Committee declines to examine mass media reports if no application has been filed by a reporter, citizen, or faction.  Given the fact that various heads of Ethics Committee have repeatedly said it was impossible to discuss such behavior of MPs without a corresponding application, I decided to present the facts available to me,” she explained, adding “The video shot at extraordinary sittings shows those MPs waving to me when they see me filming them, but the next day they again voted instead of absent colleagues”.

Lilit Lalayan said that if Ethics Committee decides the MPs violated the Rules of Procedure of NA, she will ask Speaker Galust Sahakyan to  impose disciplinary action against them.