Parliamentary factions cannot reach consensus on the draft law on  amending Electoral Code of Armenia

ArmInfo. Those who promised to  come and vote in favor of amending the Electoral Code simply did not  come to a vote, and the RPA torpedoed the adoption of this bill. This 

was stated by the secretary of the Yelk faction Gevorg Georgisyan at 

a briefing in the National Assembly of Armenia on October 26.

When asked who were the MPs who promised to vote "for" amendments to 

the EC, but deceived the expectations of the representatives of the 

Yelk faction, the MP said that they were representatives of the 

Tsarukyan Bloc faction, ARF Dashnaktsutyun and those MPs who left the 

Republican faction.  He noted that the collection of signatures on 

holding an extraordinary meeting to re-discuss the issue of amending 

the EC was carried out by representatives of the Tsarukyan Bloc 

faction. "I hope that on Monday, at an extraordinary meeting of the 

parliament, it will be decided to amend and supplement the EC.  

However, even if this does not happen, we are confident both in our 

abilities and in successfull holding of elections without 

falsifications, " Georgisyan said, stressing that the elections to 

the Council of Elders of Yerevan were the main evidence of this.

In turn, the secretary of the "Tsarukyan Bloc" faction Vahe Enfiajyan 

noted that the representatives of the faction had taken the 

initiative to collect signatures and holding an extraordinary 

meeting, as in the new political situation the country needs a new 

Electoral Code. He noted that this requirement is also being put 

forward by extra-parliamentary forces. "I want to note that back in 

2017 in the program of our bloc it was noted that we are supporters 

of the proportional electoral system. And we hope that on Monday 

there will be substantial discussions regarding this draft law and 

the decision will be positive," Enfiajyan concluded.

Vahram Baghdasaryan, Head of the Republican Party faction, noted that 

the faction was guided not by personal interests, but by the 

interests of the country in the matter of amending the Electoral 

Code. He noted that supporters of Acting Armenian Prime Minister 

Nikol Pashinyan a year later will acknowledge their mistake in this 

matter if they have enough courage.

As for the fact that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated 

that RPA representatives should be interested in introducing 

amendments to the EC, Baghdasaryan said:  "We are eternally grateful 

to Nikol Pashinyan for his advice, however, I don't think that we are 

pursuing one single goal - to get at any cost to the parliament. We 

have repeatedly stated and declare once again that we do not support 

the introduction of amendments to the Electoral Code one month before 

the elections, "said the head of the RPA faction.  "What will the 

parliament be like if we hold elections in a hurry? We need to think 

about this, and not about how to get 1 or 2 percent more votes," the 

MP said.

Baghdasaryan pointed out the fact that the factions reached an 

agreement that early elections will be held in May or June 2019, 

after which a statement on this issue will be made. "It would show 

the whole world that even after the internal political events in 

Armenia, the forces found the strength to make a common statement.  

And now you will see what the new parliament will be like and whether 

it corresponds to the national policy",concluded the head of the RPA, 

noting that the National Assembly is working as usual, and there was 

no need to hold early elections until 2022.

Head of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" faction Armen Rustamyan stated that 

the faction did not participate in collecting signatures for an 

extraordinary meeting of the parliament, which will consider the 

draft reform of the Electoral Code, since it is not a co-author of 

this document and its proposals were not included in the draft.  

Rustamyan noted that representatives of the ARFD have repeatedly 

noted that the faction had come up with proposals, which, however, 

were not adopted and submitted to the EC, therefore, ARFD is against 

this draft law.

The head of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" also recalled what  points were 

proposed by the representatives of the party in the draft law on 

amendments to the Electoral Code. "We very clearly stated that we 

offer an open proportional system. And we do not understand why this 

proposal was not accepted. All the arguments are groundless and 

illogical. Proportional elections with open lists are democratic. In 

fact, a person chooses not only a list, but candidates as well," 

Rustamyan stressed. The remaining proposals of the ARFD concerned the 

maximum threshold for the representation of a political force, which 

should not exceed 2/3 of the mandates so that no political force 

could make solely important decisions. "Despite this, during the 

voting we voted" in favor "of making amendments and changes to the 

EC, and in the same way we will vote on Monday," Rustamyan concluded.

To note, on October 22 the Armenian parliament rejected in its first 

reading the draft law on introducing amendments and additions to the 

Electoral Code of Armenia with 56 votes in favor and 3 against.  

Meanwhile, this constitutional law was to be adopted by 3/5 of the 

votes of MPs.  On Tuesday, Naira Zohrabyan, a deputy from the 

Tsarukyan Bloc faction, began collecting signatures for an 

extraordinary meeting to re-discuss the bill on amending the EC. An 

extraordinary meeting of the parliament will take place on October 29 

at 11:00am.