YEREVAN—Armenia’s President Serge Sarkisian met with representatives of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) for consultations on proposed constitutional reforms, on Aug. 26. Member of the ARF Bureau and head of the party’s political affairs Armen Rustamyan, ARF parliamentary faction secretary Aghvan Vardanyan, and member of the ARF Supreme Body in Armenia Arsen Hambardzumyan discussed the overall process of constitutional reforms with Sarkisian.
During their meeting, the ARF representatives expressed their willingness to continue comprehensive discussions on the draft amendments to the constitution. According to the President’s office, the ARF representatives said the draft was aligned with the ARF’s approaches, which look to secure the country’s overall development.
Sarkisian also met with representatives of the Prosperous Armenia (PAP) and Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) parties regarding constitutional reforms on the same day.
The Commission on Armenia’s Constitutional Reforms, which is headed by Sarkisian, released the final version of the draft amendments to the constitution on Aug. 21. The draft amendments meet 90-95 percent of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s (ARF) expectations, Vardanyan told reporters on Aug. 24, when he, along with Rustamyan, gave a press conference.
According to Vardanyan, the draft amendments incorporate some 79 fundamental and priority proposals of the ARF. Around 20 other proposals will be submitted soon, he said.
“We will do everything so that through the referendum, the people will accept our amendments,” Vardanyan was quoted as saying by Yerkir Media. He added that through these reforms, Armenia will be able to move in a new direction, and that he is certain that the constitutional reforms will help solve some of the existing problems in the country.
It is expected that Sarkisian will send the draft amendments to parliament following the party consultations. There, the amendments will be debated by the RPA-majority National Assembly. It is expected that they will be put to a referendum sometime in November.
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