Foreign diplomats hail latest version of Armenian constitutional amendments

Noyan Tapan news agency
3 Aug 05

Yerevan, 3 August: “The revised draft of constitutional amendments
is considerably better compared to previous versions and serves as a
good basis for guarantees of the activity of democratic institutions
in Armenia,” said a report of the Venice Commission [of the Council
of Europe], which was quoted at a news conference on 3 August.

The conference was dedicated to the drafting of a new edition of the
Armenian Constitution and was organized by the offices of the European
Union and OSCE in Yerevan and the embassies of the USA and Britain,
which is the holder of the EU presidency. The participants highly
rated the work of the Venice Commission experts in the sphere of
constitutional amendments in Armenia.

The British ambassador to Armenia, Thorda Abbott-Watt, expressed
the hope that this draft would bring Armenia closer to democratic
values and facilitate Armenia’s integration into Europe. “We agree
with the comments of the experts that the Armenian people have to
decide themselves on what kind of constitution they need,” the British
ambassador said. She said it was necessary to involve all political
forces in the process of discussing constitutional reforms. “You will
not win if you are not in the game,” Abbott-Watt said.

The US charge d’affaires to Armenia, Anthony Godfrey, expressed the
hope that the Armenian government will facilitate a broad discussion of
the project. Asked whether the draft amendments could prevent election
rigging and human rights violations, the US diplomat said: “No-one
can be insured against election fraud and human rights violations. But
this project is a step forward and we are supporting it.”

Commenting on a possible link between the favourable attitude of
western institutions to the project submitted by the ruling coalition
and concessions to be made by the Armenian authorities in the Karabakh
issue, Godfrey said: “It is wrong to link these issues with other
problems, including the conflict. The new project is a chance for
Armenia to improve the rules of the game.”