Snap parliamentary elections will be held on June 20th, and opinions are divided regarding whether the elections should be held using the old Electoral Code or a new one. The Minister of Justice, Rustam Badasyan, told reporters during a briefing, “We will express our political views, but I think that for a long time, political forces, civil society, and the majority of society believe that the rating system is not the most suitable system for Armenia. For years, the rating system has been described as a disguised majority system, and for a country like ours, I think that there are many international reports and analyses that contribute to the political debate when there is a purely proportional system. The Electoral Code has already been put into circulation and sent to the Venice Commission. We will have a conclusion in the coming days.”
The minister added that if there is a political consensus and the changes will be made as quickly as possible, there are no obstacles that would prevent the June 20th elections from being held with pure proportional party lists.
The minister noted that political forces need to be prepared to hold elections in accordance with the new Electoral Code. They say that six months are necessary in order to adapt to the new rules of the game, but political forces have been discussing the issue for a long time- almost one year- and it was not unpredictable for the forces since the Constitution also states that the electoral system must be proportional. “I also agree that the rating system is somewhat a disguised majority system.”
Badasyan said that he does not see any issues for political parties getting used to the rules of the game since political parties need to have a national list regardless. Armenia did not have a majority system for them to have been forced to change it to a proportional system. It will be technically possible to accept the new Electoral Code and implement it quickly.
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Hripsime Jebejyan
