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The draft new Constitution of Armenia comprises modern trends and meets European standards, Venice Commission member Christoph Grabenwarter, Austria, said at the Yerevan meeting with representatives of Armenia’s political parties.

In his words, the aim of any electoral system is to ensure such a composition of parliament that reflects the popular will. In other words, if an election is fair, then the electoral system – be it majoritarian or proportional   - is of no significance, C. Grabenwarter noted.

Mr. Grabenwarter said  that yesterday they discussed a number of provisions that create an opportunity for a second round of parliamentary elections, and they came to the conclusion that those norms are not reflected in the Constitution. “I understand that it is a serious problem, but you are political figures. In my country, those political figures and parties that are not represented in the parliament say that the electoral system is bad. It’s a common occurrence”, the Commission member said adding that elections need to be democratic and free, this is the main objective. 

To remind, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan submitted on August 21 the draft amendments in the Constitution of Armenia to the National Assembly. The draft amendments had been developed by the Commission on Constitutional Reforms under Armenian President. Vardan Poghosyan, a member of the Commission, has been appointed as official representative of Armenian President for presentation of the draft amendments to the Constitution in the National Assembly of Armenia. This week Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan plans to begin consultations with representatives of political parties regarding the approaches stated in the draft Constitution. The head of state also instructed the Commission on Constitutional Reforms under Armenian President to continue the dialog with the Venice Commission (VC) over those issues indicated in the VC’s preliminary opinion, around which no agreed solutions have been found so far.