ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS DUAL CITIZENSHIP BILL INTO LAW

International Herald Tribune, France
March 7 2007

YEREVAN, Armenia: Armenia’s president on Wednesday signed into
law legislation allowing dual citizenship, a move that could vastly
increase the sway that the country’s vast diaspora holds over political
life in the tiny ex-Soviet republic.

The presidential press service said Robert Kocharian signed the
multipart bill into law, but gave no further details.

Last week, ruling party lawmakers in the 131-seat National Assembly
voted 66-5 to pass the legislation over the objections of opposition
lawmakers who boycotted, saying it would increase potential for
corruption, though most opposition parties support the overall concept.

The law allows dual citizenship for Armenians 18 years or older who
have lived in the country continuously for three years; who marry
Armenian citizens; who have a child who is an Armenian citizen or
other new stipulations.

Dual citizens will be able to vote in elections but only if they
physically cast their ballots in Armenia. Dual citizens will not be
able to run for the presidency, parliament or the Constitutional Court.

The issue is an important change for the small country of about 3.3
million, which has a massive ethnic diaspora worldwide – estimated at
between 9 million and 12 million – with particularly large communities
in the United States and France.

Expatriate Armenians send massive amount of humanitarian and financial
aid back to their homeland, and often subscribe to a harder political
line on key issues of national interest, such as relations with
neighboring Azerbaijan and Turkey.