MP's continue to vote for absent colleagues The once square RA National Assembly chamber is now oval in shape and outfitted with the latest equipment. To cut down on the instances of MP’s voting in the place of others, the new hall has removed the old voting buttons. The renovation of the hall cost Armenian taxpayers 500 million AMD. You would think a new hall would induce a new mentality on the part of some MP’s, but you’d be wrong to think so. Many continue to vote on legislation for their absent colleagues. This is just what happened yesterday when Armenian Republican Party MP Manvel Ghazaryan, who also owns Vedi Alko, voted on a list of legislative modifications for MP Artyom Ghoukasyan, also of the same party. The two MP’s sit side by side. "How did you see me voting for someone else?" a surprised Ghazaryan asked when I asked him about what I had witnessed. "From the journalists’ gallery," I replied. "Yeah, Ghoukasyan Artyom telephoned me and said he agreed with my opinion," Ghazaryan said. "He said he was running late and asked me to vote in his place."