Wednesday, June 26 2019 13:18

ArmInfo.Supporters of the former head of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army Samvel Babayan in Artsakh have already collected 23,000 signatures to initiate  constitutional reforms that allow him to run for president. This was  reported to ArmInfo at the Babayan office.

According to the report, despite the fact that before the end of the  deadline for collecting signatures, there are still 23 days, 23  thousand signatures have already been collected. "This is the  beginning of the process of reunification of Artsakh with Armenia,"  the message says.

We note that to initiate the process of constitutional reforms,  11,000 signatures would suffice. The second stage of Babayan's  initiative is the implementation of the proposed reforms in the  country's parliament.  However, experts consider such an outcome  unlikely, since all the political forces of Artsakh oppose this  initiative.

The fact is that the essence of the constitutional amendments  initiated by Babayan is to exclude from the Basic Law of Artsakh the  qualification for permanent residence in the territory of the  republic for presidential candidates and deputies. If the process  started successfully, Babayan will be able to run for president of  Artsakh in 2020. Otherwise, this constitutional qualification will  prevent him from moving forward in elections, because Babayan has not  lived in Artsakh in recent years. But this amendment will open the  way for the presidency not only to Samvel Babayan, but also to many  other candidates from Armenia and even the Diaspora.