Monday, October 22 2018 13:58

ArmInfo.According to the Government of Armenia, the terms of discussions in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on the draft amendments to the  Electoral Code of the country and in a package of related laws have  been extended 3-fold. This was announced on October 22 at the  extraordinary meeting of the Parliament by the Acting Minister of  Justice of the Republic of Armenia Artak Zeynalyan, who presented the  package in the first reading.

According to Artak Zeynalyan, from now on instead of the 24 hours  previously allotted for discussion is 72 hours are set. Acting  minister stressed that such a speedy review of the constitutional  electoral code is due to the force majeure situation in the country.  He recalled that after the elections to the Council of Elders of  Yerevan, people had certain expectations for holding early  transparent and fair parliamentary elections. In addition, the  program of the new government of the Republic of Armenia clearly  states the dates for holding these elections during the year.

The Minister said that according to the amendments, the elections to  the National Assembly of Armenia will be held exclusively on  proportional lists, the current rating system of elections is  completely excluded. "The threshold for entry will decrease by one  percent, as a result  it will be 4% for parties and 6% for blocs. It  is also planned that the minimum number of political forces that have  entered the parliament, regardless of the threshold, will be 4, not  3." The parliament will be formed of at least 4 political forces ",  Zeynalyan stressed, adding that the amount of the electoral pledge is  decreasing, which instead of 10 million drams  it will make 7.5  million drams. Artak Zeynalyan also noted that election campaigning  rules were somewhat changed "Wider opportunities are provided for  campaigning at the expense of public resources free air time has been  increased, TV debates should be carried out, and at least one of them  should be on the level of those leading the lists. A norm was also  established according to which the employees of the armed forces of  Armenia should have more opportunities to familiarize themselves with  the electoral programs, including, they should be able to watch the  TV debates. The minister also noted that some reforms are envisaged  in those norms that relate to fraud of election results.