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Armenian MP Edmon Marukyan from the opposition Bright Armenia Party took to Facebook on Thursday to strongly oppose a government-drafted bill that would allow the authorities to continue imposing coronavirus restrictions without further extending the state of emergency.

The package of draft amendments to several Armenian laws would allow the government to enforce a nationwide lockdown for up to six months, which, first of all, severely limits the possibility of parliamentary oversight of he imposed restrictions and will have a negative effect on public life, the MP said.

Under the bill, people’s personal data, including medical secrets, will be once again accessible to several state and local self-government bodies at once, he added.

“It is proposed to establish the procedure for self- quarantine of a person not by law, but by a sub-legislative act, which is absolutely unacceptable in terms of human rights protection, as the regime of self- quarantine presupposes the restriction of several basic human rights at the same time,” he wrote.

Marukyan also said the bill would allow police to use various objects and materials, as well as service dogs, to disperse street gatherings.

“The amendments make it possible to restrict the right of a citizen to receive information on emergency situations by law.

“The government would be allowed to make a decision on restricting the right of individuals to receive compensation for the use of their property or other resources in an emergency situation, which, of course, contradicts the constitutional provisions on the protection of property rights and cannot be justified in any way,” the lawmaker stressed.

Also, he said, the bill calls for 11 new types of fines during a coronavirus lockdown.

“A short (10-day) appeal period is envisaged for disputing the legality of the measures imposed during the period of quarantine.

“In other words, once again, as it’s said, they tried to fix the eyebrow and ended up blinding the eye, too,” he added.