Majority of Voters Support Armenia’s Constitutional Reform
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Armenia's Central Election Commission said Monday that preliminary results indicate voters have endorsed constitutional changes that would transform the country from a presidential to a parliamentary system.
Over 643,000 Armenians voted in support of the constitutional reform, which is enough for the document stipulating that Armenia goes from a presidential to a parliamentary republic, referendum results showed Monday.
Under the proposal, the role of the president would be downgraded to a figurehead position with no veto authority, elected by parliament every seven years, instead of the current five. The president would not be able to be a member of one of the political parties and would lose the right to be re-elected.
The proposed amendments also call for the number of parliamentary seats to be reduced from 131 to 101.
With 93 percent of the vote in a December 6 referendum counted, officials say 63.5 percent voted in favor of the changes, which were proposed by President Serzh Sarkisian.
The proposed document can be passed if more than a half of the voters and at least a quarter of the country’s 2.5-million electorate supports it, which is 640,000 people, according to Sputnik News.
According to the country’s Central Election Commission, some 50,5 percent of Armenians eligible to vote took part in the referendum.
The opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) has rejected the election commission's preliminary results.