Armenian government approved amendments to Electoral Code and to a  package of related laws

ArmInfo. The government of Armenia approved the amendments to the constitutional Electoral Code and in a package of related laws at a meeting on October 16.

As RA Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan noted at the meeting of the  RA Government, 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." That is, the  parliament will be formed of at least 4 political forces, "Zeinalyan  stressed, adding that the size of the electoral pledge is decreasing,  which instead of 10 million drams will make 7.5 million drams.  The  Minister also noted that the rules for election campaigning were  slightly changed. "More opportunities for campaigning at the expense  of public resources are given - free time on the air has increased,  it has been established that there should be TV debates, and at least  one of them should be at the level of the first numbers of the list.  According to another provision, servicemen of the armed forces of  Armenia should have more opportunities to familiarize themselves with  election programs, including, they should be able to watch  debates.

The minister also noted that some reforms are envisaged in those  norms that concern election fraud.  It should be noted that the  amendments will be considered at an extraordinary meeting of the  National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on October 22. This  decision was also made at a meeting of the executive body on December  16.