ACCORDING TO VENICE COMMISSION, DRAFT ARMENIAN CONSTITUTION NEEDS DRASTIC CHANGES
STRASBOURG, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The Council of Europe’s Commission
for Democracy through Law (“Venice Commission”) has assessed the draft
constitutional amendments, as adopted by the Armenian National Assembly
in a first reading on 11 May 2005. According to the Council of Europe
Information Office in Armenia, the members of the Venice Commission’s
Working Group on constitutional reform in Armenia expressed their deep
dissatisfaction with this text, as most of the Commission’s comments
have not been taken into consideration, notably those concerning the
balance of powers between the President and the Parliament – which
implies a stronger role of the National Assembly -, the independence
of the judiciary and the election of the Mayor of Yerevan (instead
of his/her appointment by the President). “The draft constitutional
amendments need to be drastically revised before they undergo the
second reading” said Kaarlo Tuori, member of the Venice Commission in
respect of Finland. The members of the Working Group also stated that
if the text does not fully reflect the Venice Commission’s opinions,
the whole constitutional reform process would fail to bring Armenia
closer to European values and attain the aim of further European
integration. Representatives of the Working Group will visit Armenia
on 2 June to discuss these issues with the Armenian authorities.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress