The legislative initiative to limit the electoral rights of Armenian citizens living abroad sparked heated debates in the parliamentary hall.
With elections approaching, the ruling party ‘Civil Contract’ proposes to deprive the right to vote from those Armenians who have not been in the country for at least one year out of the last two years before the publication of the voter lists. Exceptions are made only for those who left for studies or official missions.
Besides the content, the opposition was also concerned about the authorities’ haste to discuss the issue in an extraordinary session, urgently, without public discussion and without the assessment of the reputable international expert body, the Venice Commission, while the adoption of the law could deprive hundreds of thousands of people of their voting rights.
“To bring such an important law in the last days of the 8th convocation of the National Assembly, in an urgent manner, at an extraordinary session — excuse me, but it is obvious what you want to do — ‘let’s do it quickly, push it through, and move on’,” said opposition MP Arthur Khachatryan from the ‘Armenia’ faction.
“Such a violation of a fundamental right is further proof that the CP has nothing to do with basic human rights,” asserted Artzvik Minasyan from the same faction.
“This haste can only be explained as having political ulterior motives,” added another opposition MP Gegham Manukyan.
However, the MPs from the ‘Civil Contract’ explained this initiative by public demand, not hiding that they are referring to reports about bringing voters from Russia.
Several civil society organizations have sharply criticized this draft, claiming that the legislative changes are unconstitutional and impose illegal and disproportionate restrictions on electoral rights, threatening democratic principles and violating citizens’ political rights.
MP Agvan Vardanyan from the ‘Armenia’ faction is convinced that the change is being made in anticipation of a planned constitutional referendum by the authorities, for which, by the way, the ‘Civil Contract’ will not have enough votes in the new parliament.
Vice Speaker of the National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan, however, hinted at the influence of another country as a conditional example: “If the government of Saint Kitts and Nevis decides it wants to influence Armenia's political life, and if it turns out that there are many Armenian citizens in Saint Kitts and Nevis, what happens — the law enforcement agencies of Armenia will not be able to prevent cases of electoral bribery in Saint Kitts and Nevis, will not be able to prevent illegal influence on their political will.”
In addition to the law prohibiting voting for citizens living abroad, the authorities also brought forward another initiative at the extraordinary session, which extends the punishment for crimes related to electoral bribery from one to two years, and those convicted will be deprived of the right to hold public office for a long time even after serving their sentences.
Both laws were passed in the first reading only with the votes of the ruling party’s deputies and Gegham Nazaryan, who left the ‘Armenia’ bloc. The second reading is expected to take place within 24 hours.
