ArmenPress, Armenia

Aug 21 2020

 

 

 

 13:04,

 

YEREVAN, AUGUST 21, ARMENPRESS. The Specialized Commission for Constitutional Reforms is discussing the option of lowering the voting age in Armenia, member of the commission Daniel Ioannisyan said during an online discussion.

 

“Three potential scenarios are being discussed,” he said. “One of the scenarios is to leave the [voting age] as it is, that is 18. I am not in favor of this option. The other scenario implies lowering the age to 16 or 17. The third scenario is to give parliament the liberty to decide the voting age for any given election. We give citizens aged 16 the right to form a family, to participate in assemblies, to work, and why can’t they have the right to vote also?”

 

According to Ioannisyan the commission has so far clearly agreed on two items – that Armenia must remain a parliamentary republic and that the “stable majority” mechanism should be scrapped.

 

The commission is also looking into possible reforms in the mechanism of election of the President, the referenda, and the formation of a government if the “stable majority” system is abolished.

 

The commission is expected to deliver the Constitutional Reforms bill to the Prime Minister by September 1, 2020.

 

Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan