“If our colleagues from the Heritage Party can convince both the society and the political forces that there is a need for their initiative, we can discuss,” Eduard Sharmazanov, a deputy leader of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) said about the proposal of the Heritage Party parliamentary group to allow citizens of the Republic of Armenia over 18 years old who live abroad to participate in general elections.
He reminded that before including that provision in the law, the opposition forces used to criticize the government that there was no possibility to control the vote counting abroad. “And this was taken out, in order that there were no obstacles,” E. Sharmazanov explained.
Talking about the concerns of Anush Sedrakyan, the deputy leader of the Free Democrats Party that the proposal of the Heritage Party was risky and could contribute to government
Read also
pressure on the Armenian voters abroad, Mr. Sharmazanov assured, “The present Armenian government neither wishes nor can pressure. The present political authorities carry out a policy of democratic reforms.” He also made a joke about the frequency of the Heritage Party parliamentary group proposals, “We adopted the Election Code, which has been highly valued by international organizations and which was in force when we were able to hold the best election in our modern history, the way we think.”
Arpine SIMONYAN
