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The amendments to the Constitution of Armenia will enable to enhance the principle of separation and limitation of powers, Vardan Poghosyan – a member of the Specialized Commission on Constitutional Reforms adjunct to Armenian President – said today during discussions organized by Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

The expert on constitutional law said that the draft to be put to the referendum will ensure a switch from the ‘semi-presidential Constitution’ to a more balanced system – the parliamentary system of government.

Besides, in his words, the current barrier between constitutional law and practice will no longer exist and a balance will be created among the institutions of presidency, government, parliament, and judiciary.

“The parliament will feel the spirit of the people, first of all – regarding the drafts submitted by civic initiatives that will be included in the agenda of the National Assembly if 50,000 signatures are collected, while in case of 300,000 signatures, the NA will have to put the draft to a referendum,” V. Poghosyan said.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on August 21 sent the draft constitutional amendments to the National Assembly of Armenia. The draft was prepared by the Specialized Commission on Constitutional Reforms adjunct to Armenian President. Following the debates, on October 5 the Armenian parliament adopted the draft decision about its consent to put the document to a referendum. The parliament adopted the draft decision by a majority of the votes: 104 MPs voted in favor, 10 against, with 3 abstentions. The draft was backed by the factions of Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), opposition ARF-Dashnaktsutyun, and Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP). Opposition factions ‘Heritage’ and ‘Armenian National Congress’ (ANC), and 2 MPs of the opposition faction ‘Orinats Yerkir’ voted against. The head of state set December 6, 2015 as the date for the constitutional referendum. The campaign for the constitutional reform referendum started in Armenia on October 10 and will finish at midnight, December 4.