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If an attempt is made in Armenia to register a same-sex marriage, this would be considered illegal: such a phenomenon is banned by the Constitution of Armenia, and a marriage between people of the same sex is not considered as a family and a natural cell of society, Hrayr Tovmasyan - member of the Commission on Constitutional Reforms under Armenian President – said today when responding to questions of those present at hearings held in the National Assembly of Armenia to discuss the draft new Constitution of Armenia.

MP Hovhannes Sahakyan who conducted the meeting assured those present, especially a member of an NGO who expressed his resentment, that the draft Constitution does not contain a provision allowing same-sex marriages.

“In Armenia a marriage between a man and a woman is considered a family. Such is our perception, our approach stipulated in the Constitution,” H. Tovmasyan stated again.

But the NGO member who did not identify himself continued making loud remarks from his seat so Tovmasyan asked H. Sahakyan to call police so as to remove the troublemaker from the hall. A decision was eventually made not to call law enforcers.

More than 100 invitees and representatives of over 80 organizations were expected to the hearings on the draft new Constitution of Armenia in the National Assembly today, on September 4, Panorama.am learned from Hovhannes Sahakyan, chairman of the Armenian parliament’s standing committee on state and legal affairs. He said the hearings will be attended by representatives of NGOs, political parties, embassies, the Chamber of Advocates, and students. According to H. Sahakyan, the parliamentary hearings on the draft Constitution are very important, and the public shows great interest in the hearings. “The draft new Constitution of Armenia has evoked great interest. Many expressed a wish to be present at the hearings and we complied with their request. This is important for us: any remark, observation or proposal made by them may later be included in the draft to be submitted to the president,” Hovhannes Sahakyan said.

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 political parties.