Tuesday, February 27 2018 11:09

ArmInfo. The parliamentary majority of the National Assembly of Armenia failed to include in the agenda of the meetings the draft amendments proposed by the "Tsarukyan bloc" faction in the RA Electoral Code. In favor of the submitted document, 39 deputies voted at 56 against.

According to Naira Zohrabyan, deputy of the "Tsarukyan bloc" faction,  the proposed document proposes to exclude the rating system of  elections, making the transition to an exclusively proportional  election system.  "Armenia is an exclusive country in which the  rating system operates. We were ready to postpone the project, but  the statements of the representatives of the ruling majority about  the rejection of the proportional system forced us to take this step  and present the project now, "Naira Zohrabyan stated. As the MP  stressed, what happened in the April 2 parliamentary elections  demonstrates the need to change this electoral system.

The vice-speaker of the parliament, Arpine Hovhannisyan, said that  the data of Zohrabyan are incorrect and there are many countries  where elections are held in an open electoral system. However,  according to her, the ruling majority at this stage opposes the  submitted bill, since before the parliamentary elections between the  political forces participating in the elections a consensus was  reached around the existing system.  "There was consensus between the  political forces, the authorities accepted four demands of the  opposition, only one demand was not accepted. A political consensus  was reached around this system. This was an important circumstance  during the adoption of the code. The same "Prosperous Armenia" party  was a supporter of this consensus, and then convinced that it was  wrong. It's wrong to make such changes before elections, "Arpine  Hovhannisyan stated.

According to the amendments to the Constitution adopted at the  referendum on December 6, 2015, the National Assembly was elected for  the first time exclusively on a pro-rata basis. The percentage  barrier in 5% for batches and 7% for blocks is established. For the  first time, a finite number of deputies is not stipulated - the  National Assembly consists of at least 101 deputies with mandatory  guarantees of a stable majority. If no party is able to form a  government, with the support of the majority, a second round will be  held with the participation of the two parties that received the  largest number of votes.

On April 2, elections to the National Assembly, the first after  amendments to the Constitution, were held in Armenia. Armenia  actually passed to the parliamentary form of government. Voter  turnout in the election was 60.93% of voters. According to the CEC,  the ruling Republican Party of Armenia received 49.12% (771,247  votes), the Tsarukyan block - 27.32% (428,965), the Dashnaktsutyun  party gained 6.57% (103,173), the Elk block "- 7.77% (122 049), the"  Armenian Revival "party - 3.71% (58 277), the" Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian  "block - 2.7% (32 504), the" Congress-NPA " - 1.65% (25,975), the  Free Democrats party - 0.94% (14,746), the Communist Party of Armenia  - 0.75% (11,745 votes).