At today's meeting of the third and final reading the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia adopted the new Electoral Code of the country. According to the results of the voting, 102 deputies voted positively, 17 deputies were against and three others abstained in the 131-seat parliament.
Now, the new parliament will be formed only in accordance with the proportional system. According to the project, there be at least 101 members in the National Assembly. Each party or a party alliance should represent a national electoral list of candidates and one list for each constituency, RIA Novosti informs.
The adoption of the new Electoral Code is due to the constitutional reform initiated by the President and leader of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Serzh Sargsyan who is on the way to the country's transition from presidential to the parliamentary form of government, adopted in the threshold of the next parliamentary elections in 2017.
It worth noting that the planned constitutional reforms have caused a wave of discontent in the Armenian opposition environment that announced its demands. The main of them is the official publication of the lists of voters and the withdrawal of the names of those citizens who died or were missed in Armenia during many years in order to allegedly form a majority of votes of the electorate.
The leader of the parliamentary faction 'Armenian National Congress' (ANC), Levon Zurabyan, noted in an interview with a 'Vestnik Kavkaza' correspondent the possibility to use administrative resources for the current authorities of Armenia as a result of the adoption of the new Electoral Code.
"The new system is proportionate only formally. In reality, the role of regional lists is exaggerated. It allows the authorities to use administrative and criminal resources on the ground in order to involve voters in corruption schemes. In general, it how elections in Armenia took place during many years,'' he explained, adding that the code just legalize illegal electoral tradition in the country.
The Director of the Armenian branch at the CIS Institute, Aleksander Markarov expressed confidence that the new electoral system will allow to distribute votes in accordance with the will of the voters.
"From my point of view, the political forces have a great opportunity to receive the chance to be represented in the legislative body. Above all, it is beneficial for those who had no significant chance of influence political decision-making sphere. It is no secret that not a single party received the absolute majority after the election process that took place in accordance with the proportional way. And it is becoming a trend. If this trend continues in the framework of the upcoming parliamentary elections the political forces can take advantage of the situation and act as a junior partner in the coalition," the expert expects.
Parliamentary elections are to take place in Armenia at the end of April 2017.
