The meeting of Venice Commission Director Thomas Markert, Chairman of the Commission Gianni Buquicchio, the whole expert panel of the Commission, and members of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Naira Zohrabyan and Mikayel Melkumyan are over.
Aravot.am inquired from Mrs. Zohrabyan whether dates for extraordinary parliamentary elections to be held in Armenia were discussed. Mrs. Zohrabyan informed that the new political situation in Armenia and the upcoming parliamentary elections were discussed.
In response to our remark, whether according to the experts of the Venice Commission, when there will be the earliest opportunity to hold extraordinary parliamentary elections in Armenia, Zohrabyan said: “There is no matter of early or late. They said they welcome the democratic processes in Armenia and as always they are ready to work with Armenia, and that their relations with Armenia have always been very constructive. Gianni Buquicchio said that it is our right to change the Electoral Code, to change the electoral system, removing the rating system. I also introduced some other changes to be made”.
Touching upon the discussion on the terms of extraordinary parliamentary elections, Mrs. Zohrabyan said: “Gianni Buquicchio noted that their position is clear: the elections should not be artificially accelerated or artificially delayed. There should be enough time for the political forces to implement the changes to the Electoral Code calmly and professionally. It is also important that there be a consensus among key political actors in terms of the elections date. According to Gianni Buquicchio, this is very important to them”.
According to Naira Zohrabyan, the Venice Commission has assured that when the Electoral Code is ready, they will immediately give their assessment.
In response to our remark that the Republican members always refer to the position of the Venice Commission that at least six months are needed after the amendments to the Electoral Code so that political forces can be adapted to new changes, and to our question whether this position was again emphasized and whether it would be possible to organize elections in fall, as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had stated, Mrs. Zohrabyan said: “They stressed that our government program notes that those can be held within a year, so it can be eight months, seven months, but it cannot be artificially accelerated”.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
