DRAFT OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS ESSENTIALLY DIFFERENT FROM CURRENT
CONSTITUTION

YEREVAN, JULY 28. ARMINFO. The draft of constitutional reforms is
different from the current Constitution in over 50 provisions, Armen
Rustamyan, representative of the Executive Council, Armenian
Revolutionary Federation “Dashnaktsutyun” (ARF), told ARMINFO.

The draft envisages the prolongation of the Legislature’s powers to
five years, whereas under the current Constitution this term is four
years. Rustamyan pointed out that the prolongation of the
Legislature’s powers does not mean the prolongation of the President’s
powers. “According to the current Constitution, the President’s powers
expire five years after he is elected, and this clause remains
unchanged in the draft,” he said. Rustamyan reported that at its
recent sitting attended by the President, the Council of the coalition
reached an agreement on reducing the number of Armenian
parliamentarians from 131 to 121. He said that this figure will be
included in the draft amendments to the Constitution. However,
Rustamyan stressed that the ARF’s position on this issue was
essentially different from that of the other coalition-forming
political forces. For example, the ARF insisted on the number of
parliamentarians being reduced to 101. Despite the protest raised by
the “Law-Governed Country” party, the Council included in the draft a
provision stipulating the recall of the Parliament Speaker and
Vice-Speakers. According to the document, they can be recalled by the
majority of votes. Rustamyan stressed that the Law on the Regulations
of the RA National Assembly will specify this process, after necessary
amendments are made to the document. He stated that the draft
stipulates the enlargement of the Legislature’s powers due to the
reduction of the President’s powers. Specifically, the National
Assembly is entitled to be actively involved in forming the
Government. Rustamyan pointed out that the draft leaves almost
unchanged the provision on the formation of the Council of Justice,
that is, the President has the right to appoint three lawyers as
Council members. However, an agreement was reached on the enlargement
the three judicial instances’ powers in selecting members of the
Council of Justice. Rustamyan emphasized the necessity of including a
representative of the Economic Court in the Council of Justice.

Another important difference of constitutional reforms is that the
draft removes the ban from dual citizenship. Rustamyan stressed that
the rights and duties of the persons having dual citizenship have not
yet been specified. He stated that the ARF objects to the draft
regulating the rights and duties of persons with dual
citizenship. According to him, it is a most complicated issue and must
be regulated by a special law.

Rustamyan reported that the draft of constitutional amendments has
been sent to the CE Venetian Commission for expert examination. This
September, the PACE Monitoring Commission is to consider the
document. And PACE is to consider it at its session in October. He
reports that a referendum on constitutional reforms is scheduled for
July 5, 2005, which is no coincidence, as the current Constitution was
adopted on July 5, 1995.