Armenian parliament adopts constitutional changes

Mediamax news agency, Yerevan, in Russian
28 Sep 05

Yerevan, 28 September: The Armenian National Assembly adopted the
draft constitutional amendments in its third, final reading today.
The draft will be put up for a nationwide referendum [in November
this year].

The draft was adopted by 90 votes to none. The factions of the
opposition Justice bloc and the National Unity Party did not take
part in the voting, Mediamax news agency reported.

Addressing the parliament on 27 September, the Armenian president’s
representative for constitutional amendments, Armen Arutyunyan, said
that the draft constitutional changes “is a step forward from the
semi-presidential form of rule to parliamentarism”. He expressed the
hope that the constitutional reforms will unite society and play a
positive role in the country’s future development.

The draft constitutional changes will be submitted to the president
for approval and then he will set a date for the referendum.

The draft constitutional changes were prepared by the ruling
coalition and agreed with the Venice Commission of the Council of
Europe. The main purpose of the reforms is to ensure the equality of
all branches of power.

The constitutional reforms were one of the key points of Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan’s election programme and one of the
country’s basic commitment to the Council of Europe.

The role of the parliament will increase in the country if the
constitutional reforms are adopted in the referendum. In particular,
the National Assembly will play the main role in forming the
government, appoint the prosecutor-general, and the president will
not be able to individually adopt a decision to dismiss the prime
minister.