VENICE COMMITTEE CONSIDERS WRONG ABSENCE OF TRANSITIONAL THESES IN PRELIMINARY VARIANTS OF DRAFT CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The NA Interim Commission on
Eurointegration issues completed discussion on the conent of
drafts of Constitutional reforms at the April 6 sitting. “Adoption,
Amendment and Referendum of Constitution”, the last but one head
of the drafts authored by ULP fraction and Arshak Sadoyan was left
without amendments. So, adoption of Constitution and amendments in it
are carried out by the means of referendum, on the initiative of the
RA President or the National Assembly. The President of the Republic
appoints a referendum on the initiative or with the consent of the
majority of the NA MPs total number. A draft put on a referendum is
considered adopted, if more than half of participants in the ballot,
but not less than one third of citizens included in electoral rolls,
voted for it. As an addition to the above-mentioned theses of the
acting Constitution, the political coalition proposed to adopt
that the provisions of some articles of the Constitution may be
amended by law as well. At least one third of the total number of
NA MPs or the RA President may represent such an initiative, and
at least two thirds of of total number of MPs will be needed in
such cases. According to the conclusion of the Venice Commission,
the proposal to adopt Constitutional amendments by the NA qualified
majority, without putting it on the referendum “makes easier the
process of Constitutional amendments, at the same time keeping the
demand to solve important issues by a referendum, hence the Commission
is for it.” ULP and political coalition have not presented proposals
on the last chapter, “Transitional Theses” of the Constitution yet,
mentioning that they will be represented after discussion of the
package of the constitutional reforms. The Venice Commission did not
consider such a decision to be right. According to the Commission,
transitional theses are an indivisible part of the Constitutional
reforms and “may relate to very important and delicate issues which
must not be avoided during the parliamentary disc ussions.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress