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“I state on behalf of Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) that there is a decision of the party and the faction: in the National Assembly of Armenia, we will vote for adoption of the draft amendments to the Constitution and support the holding of a referendum,” spokesman for PAP Vahan Babayan told a press conference today.

In his words, PAP did not adopt that decision overnight, but after discussions with specialists, experts on constitutional law .
“After many discussions, we came to the conclusion that we have no serious reasons to object to the presented draft,” PAP spokesman Vahan Babayan explained.

According to him, no country has an ideal Constitution. “To say that the draft amendments to the Constitution of Armenia are ideal would be a loud statement. But, on the whole, the draft is acceptable to us so we will vote for its adoption,” Babayan said adding that several PAP-submitted proposals were accepted.

He considered it a historical step that the draft amendments propose a switch to 100% proportional electoral system, the need of which has been repeatedly indicated by PAP.

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. On September 11the draft amendments to the Constitution received a positive opinion of the parliament’s standing committee on legal and state affairs, and debates of the draft began at sittings of the National Assembly’s autumn session. Serzh Sargsyan has already held consultations on the approaches stated in the draft new Constitution with representatives of various political parties.