Interfax
Oct 21 2004

Armenia discusses commitments to Council of Europe

Yerevan. (Interfax) – A Wednesday conference with Armenian President
Robert Kocharian discussed the fulfillment of promises Armenia made
when it joined the Council of Europe in 2001, the presidential press
service told Interfax.

“Once again we have to find out at what stage of fulfilling our
obligations we are and to adopt a new timetable helping us fully
carry out these obligations,” the press service said.

Parliamentary deputy speaker and head of the Armenian delegation to
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Tigran
Torosyan gave a report on the issue. He said parliament is working on
a new electoral code taking due account of the opinion of the Venice
Commission.

A major commitment that has not been fulfilled is a constitutional
referendum, which is expected in 2005.

The conference also discussed plans for reforming the judicial system
and the system of provincial government and approved a schedule for
fulfilling them, the press service said.

In May 2003, Armenia held a constitutional referendum, but the
proposed reforms were rejected by the public.