ARMENIAN BILL ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP PASSED
By Astghik Bedevian and Ruben Meloyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Feb 26 2007
The National Assembly adopted on Monday a controversial bill that
allows millions of foreign nationals of Armenian origin to become
citizens of Armenia and vote in national elections held there.
Deputies voted by 66 to 5, with one abstention, to pass, in the
second and final reading, a package of government-drafted amendments
to relevant Armenian laws, despite serious objections voiced by the
leaders of the parliament’s largest faction.
The legislators representing the governing Republican Party (HHK)
insisted as recently as last Thursday that dual citizens from the
worldwide Armenian Diaspora be granted voting rights only if they
live in Armenia during at least one of the five years preceding
a particular election. The demand was backed by the parliament’s
opposition minority which boycotted the parliament vote. Justice
Minister David Harutiunian, who authored the amendments on behalf of
the government, rejected it as unconstitutional.
Parliament speaker Tigran Torosian and virtually all other Republicans
eventually fell in line, suggesting that President Robert Kocharian
personally pushed for the bill’s adoption. Torosian attributed the
U-turn to a "political agreement" reached by the country’s governing
coalition.
The leader of the HHK’s parliament faction, Galust Sahakian, denied
any pressure from Kocharian. "The matter should not be linked with
the president," he said.
The five votes against the amendments, made possible by the November
2005 abolition of a constitutional ban on dual citizenship, came from
the deputies affiliated with the pro-Kocharian United Labor Party
(MAK). The MAK is unhappy with the fact that dual citizens will be
allowed to hold ministerial positions in the Armenian government. The
amended law on citizenship only bars them from running for president
and parliament.
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), another
coalition member and the main proponent of the right to dual
nationality, welcomed the adoption of the bill. Dashnaktsutyun deputies
celebrated it with an improvised reception promptly held in their
parliament offices. "This law is an opportunity to consolidate our
nation," one of them, Ruben Hovsepian, said.
Dashnaktsutyun leaders earlier shrugged off opposition claims that the
nationalist party has been strongly advocating introduction of dual
citizenship because it has many members and supporters in the Diaspora.
The ban on dual citizenship was imposed by former President Levon
Ter-Petrosian and his Armenian Pan-National Movement (HHSh), which
remains staunchly opposed to the idea. The HHSh deputy chairman,
Andranik Hovakimian, insisted on Monday that it is "extremely
dangerous" and fraught with "numerous risks" for Armenia’s national
security.