ArmInfo. Chairman of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan signed the constitutional law "On Amendments and Additions to the Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia"adopted on April 1 at an extraordinary session of the Parliament. This is reported by the press service of the RA Parliament.
The legislative body also recalled that the President of the Republic did not sign the law within 21 days after its adoption and did not challenge the constitutionality of the law, and after the expiration of this period, the powers to sign the law, according to Part 3 of Article 129 of the RA Constitution, were transferred to the NA President.
It should be noted that on April 17, President Armen Sarkissian said that he would not sign the law, but would not apply to the Constitutional Court to determine its compliance with the Constitution. Recall that at an extraordinary session of the Armenian parliament on April 1, the deputies adopted amendments to the Electoral Code (EC) by 82 votes in favor. The law was approved by the deputies of the government faction "My Step" and a group of independent deputies. The opposition did not take part in the vote.
The amendments to the Electoral Code imply a complete rejection of the rating electoral system. Thus, the election of candidates on territorial lists is canceled and a proportional system is established, according to which voters will vote only for a specific political force.
The new changes also imply the removal of restrictions on the number of parties participating in the formation of post-election coalitions and the extension of the deadline for their formation.
Meanwhile, the opposition said that the legitimacy of the expected June 20 elections is questionable, since the amendments were adopted without its participation by the ruling majority in parliament.