The Armenian government today turned down an amendment proposed by MP Nikol Pashinyan that would reduce traffic violation fines issued to financially strapped drivers (the official term is ‘socially vulnerable’) by 50%.

The government argued that this would contradict the ‘equal before the law’ principle enshrined in the country’s constitution.

The government said that if the amendment were to pass it would lead to a set of varying degrees of responsibility based on financial factors.