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Draft Law on Language Passed on St. Mesrop Mashtots and Sahak Barthev Day
http://hetq.am/en/politics/otaralezu-dprots-10/
[ 2010/06/24 | 17:06 ]
society politics
Sona Avagyan
As protesters gathered outside the convening session of the National
Assembly today, Armen Hovhannisyan, a member of the `We are Against
Foreign Language Schools' initiative, reminded everyone that today was
St. Mesrop Mashtots and Sahak Barthev Day. On this day dedicated to
the founder of the Armenian alphabet and his pupil, the National
Assembly was set to vote on a draft law on language, which would allow
foreign language schools to be opened in Armenia.
As Members of Parliament arrived, they were greeted by protesters with
calls of `Shame', `Education in Armenian', `No Compromises on
Armenian', `No to Colonization' and so on.
Before entering the session, independent Member of Parliament Viktor
Dallakyan assured the protesters that he would be voting against the
draft. When asked whether he would vote against even after changes
were made to the law, Dallakyan said, `This is a matter of principle.
The Constitution says that the national language of Armenia is
Armenian, which suggests that school education in Armenia must be in
Armenian.'
At 12 noon, a quick round of voting was organized and the draft law
was passed with 71 votes in favor, 13 against and 1 abstaining.
Some Members of Parliament, such as Vardan Khachatryan and the
Heritage Party's Stepan Safaryan, were not present during the voting
and arrived later. When asked how one could miss this session,
Khachatryan said, `One can miss the session if one is convinced that
his vote does not matter. My vote would not have changed the result.'
Armen Hovhannisyan of the `We are Against Foreign Language Schools'
initiative said that only 66 votes were needed to pass the draft law
and if anyone had not voted, they would not have stopped the motion
from gaining those 66 votes. In a reference to suggestions that
Members of Parliament had deliberately missed the session to avoid
voting, Hovhannisyan said, `I do not want to sound conspiratorial to
that extent.' He added that the members of the initiative had been
prepared for all possibilities, including that which would see the
draft passed after the first reading. The group was preparing to
analyze the situation and make a formal announcement.
`We will get the names of those 71 Members of Parliament and other
documents, analyze them and publish all the information. We will also
publish all our personal conversations with them and all other
relevant information available to us. This is a civil struggle in the
name of our honor and we will not agree to any concessions,' said
Armen Hovhannisyan, `Time will pass before this draft becomes law and
is implemented. That time is to our benefit - we will be better
organized, powerful, relentless and we will struggle fiercely. We
will unite all the forces in society - irrespective of political
convictions - against these changes. Education for Armenians in
Armenia must be solely in Armenian.'
From: A. Papazian
http://hetq.am/en/politics/otaralezu-dprots-10/
[ 2010/06/24 | 17:06 ]
society politics
Sona Avagyan
As protesters gathered outside the convening session of the National
Assembly today, Armen Hovhannisyan, a member of the `We are Against
Foreign Language Schools' initiative, reminded everyone that today was
St. Mesrop Mashtots and Sahak Barthev Day. On this day dedicated to
the founder of the Armenian alphabet and his pupil, the National
Assembly was set to vote on a draft law on language, which would allow
foreign language schools to be opened in Armenia.
As Members of Parliament arrived, they were greeted by protesters with
calls of `Shame', `Education in Armenian', `No Compromises on
Armenian', `No to Colonization' and so on.
Before entering the session, independent Member of Parliament Viktor
Dallakyan assured the protesters that he would be voting against the
draft. When asked whether he would vote against even after changes
were made to the law, Dallakyan said, `This is a matter of principle.
The Constitution says that the national language of Armenia is
Armenian, which suggests that school education in Armenia must be in
Armenian.'
At 12 noon, a quick round of voting was organized and the draft law
was passed with 71 votes in favor, 13 against and 1 abstaining.
Some Members of Parliament, such as Vardan Khachatryan and the
Heritage Party's Stepan Safaryan, were not present during the voting
and arrived later. When asked how one could miss this session,
Khachatryan said, `One can miss the session if one is convinced that
his vote does not matter. My vote would not have changed the result.'
Armen Hovhannisyan of the `We are Against Foreign Language Schools'
initiative said that only 66 votes were needed to pass the draft law
and if anyone had not voted, they would not have stopped the motion
from gaining those 66 votes. In a reference to suggestions that
Members of Parliament had deliberately missed the session to avoid
voting, Hovhannisyan said, `I do not want to sound conspiratorial to
that extent.' He added that the members of the initiative had been
prepared for all possibilities, including that which would see the
draft passed after the first reading. The group was preparing to
analyze the situation and make a formal announcement.
`We will get the names of those 71 Members of Parliament and other
documents, analyze them and publish all the information. We will also
publish all our personal conversations with them and all other
relevant information available to us. This is a civil struggle in the
name of our honor and we will not agree to any concessions,' said
Armen Hovhannisyan, `Time will pass before this draft becomes law and
is implemented. That time is to our benefit - we will be better
organized, powerful, relentless and we will struggle fiercely. We
will unite all the forces in society - irrespective of political
convictions - against these changes. Education for Armenians in
Armenia must be solely in Armenian.'
From: A. Papazian