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September 14, 2005
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CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR ARMENIA’S CONSTITUTIONAL VOTE

by Haroutiun Khachatrian

After a brief and uncharacteristic period of cooperation, the
Armenian government and opposition are back on a collision course
over constitutional reform. The opposition’s refusal to accept
President Robert Kocharian’s proposed changes to Armenia’s
constitution has also put it at loggerheads with the international
community, which has backed the amendments.

At a September 1 extraordinary session, Armenia’s National Assembly
adopted the government’s proposed constitutional amendments in the
second reading. Despite pressure from members of the ruling coalition
and representatives of Western countries, the main opposition parties
declared that they would not support the draft in a referendum
scheduled for November.

The four-day parliamentary session resulted in a series of amendments
designed to downplay presidential powers and gain the approval of the
Venice Commission, the Council of Europe advisory body for
constitutional law, which had rejected an earlier draft in May as
unsatisfactory. Opposition members, who interrupted their
one-and-a-half-year boycott of parliament to attend the special
session, refused to take part in the final vote on the proposed
amendments.

Besides the Council of Europe, the draft was publicly endorsed by the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Yerevan mission
and the US and British ambassadors.

In an interview published in the August 26-27 edition of the Hayots
Ashkhar daily, British Ambassador Thorda Abbot-Watt rejected calls
for a `color revolution’ during the November vote, and stressed that
the European Union, whose rotating presidency the United Kingdom
currently holds, `prefer evolutionary ways of development rather than
revolutionary ones.’ The vote on the revised constitution is part of
that process, the ambassador implied.’ Let’s not forget that what we
deal with is not a regular election or a referendum of confidence in
connection of the previous elections. We deal with the constitution,
a document predetermining the principal directions of the country’s
development.’

Nonetheless, the government faces considerable obstacles in securing
a `yes’ vote for its amended constitution this November. Putting
voter lists in order is one sizeable challenge. Overcoming public
apathy is another. Disinterest in the topic of constitutional reforms
notably increased after parliamentarians were broadcast live on
public television hurling insults at each other during the
legislature’s special session. Public awareness of the proposed
changes is also relatively minimal since the proposed constitution
has not yet been published. An earlier version was posted on the
National Assembly’s website, but less than 10 percent of Armenians
have Internet access.

In addition, President Robert Kocharian must demonstrate to the
international community that the vote is free and fair. In an August
26 statement, Ambassador John Evans termed the revised constitution
`a notable step forward,’ urging the government to take `the
necessary steps . . . to increase public awareness about this
important process so that a well-informed public can express its will
in the referendum scheduled for November.’ Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice has recently raised the importance of a transparent
vote with President Kocharian, the US State Department has announced.

If adopted, the revised constitution would enter into force two years
from the referendum.

The government appears to believe that the success of the referendum
is not guaranteed, however. Defense Minister Sergei Sargsian, widely
seen as a potential presidential candidate, was quoted by the Russian
news agency Regnum as emphasizing that a `no’ vote in November would
not mean a vote of no confidence in the Kocharian administration.

`I will not consider that the people have expressed their distrust in
the authorities,’ Sargsian said on September 1. `As you remember,
there were referenda in European countries that were not adopted
either. However, this was not interpreted as distrust in the
authorities.’

Western countries’ endorsement of the draft constitution reinforced
the ruling coalition’s own campaign for both ordinary Armenians’ and
the opposition’s support for the amendments. `Do you suppose that we
have bribed these foreign governments?’ Galust Sahakian, leader of
the pro-government Republican Party faction, asked opposition members
during the parliamentary debates. In reply, Shavarsh Kocharian
claimed that US Ambassador John Evans had compared the process of
democratization in Armenia with that in Iraq. `Why should we take
Iraq rather than the European democracies as a standard?’ he asked.

At the Venice Commission’s urging, the amendments adopted by
parliament were intended to pass greater powers from the president to
parliament and the prime minister. Among other provisions, for
instance, they call on the National Assembly to appoint the human
rights ombudsman and members of the National Radio and TV commission.
The president has also been removed from the Council of Justice, a
body that plays a key role in appointing judges.

While opposition parties had earlier pushed for such changes, in the
end, they declared them insufficient. Shavarsh Kocharian, a member of
the opposition bloc Ardarutiun (Justice), said his faction was not
satisfied with the fact that under the amended version, the president
would still have the power to appoint chairmen of courts. The
opposition also took issue with the failure to provide for direct
elections of the mayor of Yerevan. According to the draft, a special
law to be adopted later will determine the type of elections for this
position.

Political rhetoric heavily colored the opposition’s response.
Ardarutiun leader Stepan Demirchian stated that his bloc would say no
to the referendum and `the illegal authorities,’ since `no steps are
taken to create an atmosphere of confidence.’ The National Unity
faction adopted a similar position, saying that they would support
the amendments only if the November constitutional referendum was
followed by early parliamentary, and then, early presidential
elections. Deputies from both factions left parliament the day before
the vote on the constitutional amendments.

NOTES: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer specializing
in economic and political affairs.