Today’s session of the Armenian parliament opened with one minute of silence to mark the 1988 Spitak earthquake and the thousands who perished in its wake.

Samvel Nikoyan, who was elected the new National Assembly president yesterday, never showed up.

Artzvik Minasyan, in the name of the ARF, said the party’s MP’s would not vote on a draft bill regarding modifications to wage scales of top officials in various executive, legislative and judicial bodies.

The bill was put to a vote but did not pass.

Samvel Balasanyan, who was presiding over the parliamentary session for the no-show Nikoyan, declared that the bill would be put to a vote tomorrow as well – a clear violation of the law.