1/3 TO POLITICAL PARTIES

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
27 Nov 04

Already 130 suggestions have been made referring to the new draft
electoral code. The second reading of the project will take place
on December 1, and it is not clear which of these suggestions
will be accepted. Nevertheless, according to the vice chairman of
the parliamentary faction of the Democratic Liberal Union Vahram
Atanessian, no new articles can appear in the project after the first
reading and vice versa, the previous might no disappear. “And as at
the first reading the project supposes the mixed type of parliament,
with nomination both on party tickets and in constituencies, presently
the suggestion of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of 100 per cent
nomination on party tickets contradicts to the Code of the National
Assembly”, said Vahram Atanessian commenting on the standpoint
of the ARF for “AA”. Moreover, as the member of parliament said,
most of the 19 members of faction of the Democratic Liberal Union
holding the majority in the parliament are against the election on
party tickets. However, after long-lasting consultations the faction
suggest electing 1/3 of the parliament on party tickets. This is,
according to Vahram Atanessian, a starting point. Today Karabakh
is not ready for the nomination on party system because, first of
all, the accomplished parties are not many and, second, the people
of Karabakh traditionally are not politicized. According to Vahram
Atanessian, not more than 5-10 per cent of the population is involved
in parties, and the number 1/3 was not chosen at random. According
to the law, the 33-seat parliament may work with quorum of 22
members of parliament. If none of the political parties gets the
necessary amount of votes, the members of parliament elected from
constituencies will form the 2/3 of the parliament, the quorum
of 22 members of parliament will allow the parliament to operate.
Proceeding from this and other considerations, the Democratic Liberal
Union as a public-political organization holding the majority in the
parliament prefers not to hurry. Commenting on the statements of the
ARF members that those parties vote against the party ticket system
which are afraid of losing elections, Vahram Atanessian emphasized
that in the political environment of Artsakh he cannot see other
political parties which are more accomplished or less accomplished.
Besides, according to him, the Democratic Liberal Union, backed by
the authorities, has better chances to get the majority of seats in
the parliament than the other political parties. Vahram Atanessian
mentioned that the Democratic Liberal Union forming the majority
in the parliament is responsible for the activities of the present
government, its achievements and disadvantages. “We are well-aware of
all the drawbacks and we will take them into account while working
out the future priorities,” said the member of the Union. In answer
to our question on possible developments in the government if at
the upcoming summer elections to parliament the opposition holds the
majority, Vahram Atanessian noticed that in a presidential republic
in which we live forming the government is the exclusive right of the
president. The parliament may only vote against the cabinet presented
by the president. “I do not think that introducing the party ticket
system has anything to do with forming a coalition government or any
other type of government. Maybe some people have similar aims but
first the same parliamentary majority will have to modify the law
in accordance with which the government is formed and deprive the
president of this right,” said Vahram Atanessian. According to the
law in effect, after the election to the parliament the government
presents the social-economic development program of the country to
the parliament. If within 72 hours the National Assembly does not
give a vote of no confidence in the program the government continues
operating. Otherwise the president dissolves the cabinet of ministers
and appoints a new government. Speaking about the disagreement
between factions on separate points of the Electoral Code, Vahram
Atanessian said that it would be desirable to adopt the Code by way of
a political consensus without any controversies. Many questions have
been agreed on, but many others have to be discussed. The problem of
forming election committees is mainly concerned. According to Vahram
Atanessian, the project states clearly that 5 days after the enactment
of the Code the Central Election Committee is to be formed. According
to the Code, the CEC must be formed of three representatives of the
president and a representative from each political force which has a
parliamentary faction. The present CEC includes three representatives
of the president, three representatives of the government and three
representatives of each political party. The Federation thinks that
there is no need to dissolve the present CEC, and the DLU argues that
it will contradict to the Code and, besides, the same committee cannot
hold two parliamentary elections. The second important question is
that the draft code supposes forming polling stations at the military
units located more than 50 km from settlements. According to Vahram
Atanessian, we simply do not have such “far-away” military units
and this artificially included point will later be manipulated. The
participation of new settlers and refugees in elections is also an
important issue. The Democratic Liberal Union proposes to allow
people who were granted the certificate of re-settler or refugee
to vote and be nominated for the elections to municipal governments
and the parliament on party tickets. As to the electoral registers,
according to the representative of the DLU, the responsibility for
their preciseness should not be borne by the communities but the
passport and visa services which possess precise information of the
democratic situation in the country.

AA. 27-11-2004