Reforms envisaging Armenia’s transition to parliamentary republic ready and will be submitted to president

YEREVAN, August 21. / ARKA /. Armenia’s ministry of justice said a presidential commission charged with drafting constitutional amendments envisaging Armenia’s transformation into a parliamentary republic with a largely ceremonial head of state, has approved the amendments and will submit them to President Serzh Sargsyan.

Earlier this week a senior member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov said political debates on the proposed amendments would begin in late August or early September. According to him, the Republican Party of Armenia has a clear-cut approach to all the key issues concerning the proposed constitutional reforms.

According to the proposed changes, the President of Armenia is elected for a term of seven years (instead of the current five) by the electoral college (the president is elected in a national vote now) consisting of members of parliament and as many elected representatives of local authorities.

According to the document, the president is head of state, embodying national unity and ensuring the observance of the Constitution. He/she can not be a member of a political party. One person can be elected as president only for one term.

The supreme executive authority is the government that develops and implements the internal and external policies. The government is also vested with power to implement the overall public administration.

The proposed changes oblige the president to appoint a candidate of prime minister of the party or party bloc that wins parliamentary elections. If parliamentary forces are unable to agree on the candidacy of the head of government, the parliament (National Assembly) is to be dissolved.

According to the published document, the armed forces are subordinated to the government, and the prime minister is the supreme commander of the armed forces during the war.

The proposed changes stipulate that parliament members are elected for five years by a proportional system. The unicameral parliament is to consist of at least 101 members (instead of the current 131). This means that 41 single-seat constituencies must be abolished. The new parliament must have representatives of national minorities. 

If there is no stable majority in parliament, the changes propose a second round of election that is to involve the two parties with the most votes. A commission member Vardan Poghosyan told a news conference earlier this month that this controversial provision may be removed  from the draft.-0-