National Assembly approves draft amendments to Constitution

PanARMENIAN.Net - Following long debates, Armenia’s National Assembly approved draft amendments to the Constitution on Monday, October 5 morning.

The amendments were passed by a vote of 104 in favor to 10 against, with 3 abstentions.

Earlier, a member of the Constitutional Commission of the National Assembly, President Serzh Sargsyan’s Representative Vardan Poghosyan introduced the final version of the new draft Constitution to the Parliament.

Previously, Poghosyan told lawmakers that the draft amendments could still be changed during parliamentary debates.

The parliament speaker will send the draft amendments to the Armenian President who’ll set a day for the referendum, president of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Hovhannes Sahakyan told Panorama.am.

On August 21, President Serzh Sargsyan submitted the draft amendments to the Constitution to the National Assembly. The draft amendments had been developed by the Commission on Constitutional Reforms under Armenian President

According to the draft Constitution, the President is elected for 7 years instead of the current 5 and can only serve one term. The President should be a permanent resident of Armenia during the previous 7 years, instead of the current 10. The amendments ban the President from affiliation with a political party.

Article 125 of the draft Constitution sets the procedure of a presidential election. The President shall be elected by an assembly consisting of an equal number of Armenian parliament members and representatives of local government bodies, appointed by municipalities themselves.

The Prime Minister will become the supreme commander-in-chief of the Armenian armed forces during the period of military operations. He is appointed by the President, who, in particular, confirms the candidate nominated by the political force that won the National Assembly elections. No more than 18 ministries can be formed.

The European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) published on September 11 the second interim evaluation on the draft amendments to the Constitution of Armenia, promulgated by special commission on constitutional reforms under the country’s President.

The commission’s preliminary assessment includes the edited version of the 89th article of the draft amendments, which deals with the transition to the proportional electoral system and the formation of a stable majority in parliament.

Public debates on the draft Constitution were held until late July.

The Armenian Constitution referendum will most likely be held in early December 2015.