Armenian parliament approves constitutional referendum decision; some oppositionists call for mass disobedience
We should unite and mobilize our efforts to show mass disobedience,” the head of ‘Heritage’ opposition faction Zaruhi Postanjyan said during a briefing in the Armenian parliament today, before the vote on the draft amendments to the Constitution of Armenia.
In her words, the adoption of the document will have a negative impact on the country. She expressed an opinion that it is an anti-national draft.
As was reported, 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. On September 11 the draft amendments received a positive opinion of the parliament’s standing committee on state and legal affairs, followed by the draft’s debates at the autumn session of NA. On October 5 the Armenian parliament adopted the draft decision of the parliament 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.