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In adopting a Constitution, every country should be guided by its constitutional culture, member of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Kim Balayan said during a press conference today.

In his words, the Commission on Constitutional Reforms under Armenian President has published a draft new Constitution of Armenia, rather than draft constitutional amendments.

“The draft new Constitution is a step forward from a legal and democratic point of view. The most important circumstance is that the power of the people established by the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Armenia is returned to the people for adoption of laws through a referendum,” Balayan noted.

He said the draft new Constitution also has some shortcomings, and it is still too early to say yes or no to the draft which is not yet the final one.

To remind, 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. 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. Besides, last week Serzh Sargsyan has held consultations on the approaches stated in the draft new Constitution with representatives of various parties.