ARMENIA’S DRAFT CONSTITUTION DIVIDES OPPOSITION

Thursday, August 4, 2005
EURASIA INSIGHT
Haroutiun Khachatrian

Strong support from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission for Armenia’s draft constitution promises to bolster President Robert Kocharian in his ongoing feud with the country’s opposition. [...].

The amendments, designed largely to curtail the president’s powers, would provide a "good basis" for bringing Armenia in line with "European standards" for human rights, democracy and rule of law, the Commission, which advises the Council on constitutional law matters, argued in an official statement on July 22. The draft promises to "pave the way for [Armenia’s] further European integration," the Commission concluded.

With the Council of Europe now supporting the government’s proposed amendments, the political ball has fallen into the opposition’s court. The nine-party Ardarutiun (Justice) opposition bloc, the country’s largest, which has boycotted parliament since early 2004, had earlier pledged that it would work alongside the government to secure support for the new constitution. [...].

[...]. Two parties within the Ardarutiun bloc – Hanrapetitiun (Republic) and the National Democratic Alliance – appear to be driving a split. On July 19, Hanrapetitiun released a statement that characterized a refusal by the opposition to work with the government as the best bet for ending President Robert Kocharian’s rule.[...].Arahsk Sadoyan, leader of the National Democratic Alliance, went further, terming one opposition member’s support for cooperation with the authorities "betrayal."

Meanwhile, the majority of Ardarutiun members appear to have taken a more moderate position.[...]. The faction expressed willingness to participate "in the process of constitutional reforms and to present its proposals for improving the draft [constitution] given the full implementation of the principles put forward by the faction." The faction has listed implementation of the Venice Commission’s January 2005 recommendations [...] as among its pre-conditions for participation in the constitutional reform process.

For now, though, opposition members maintain that a split is not yet inevitable. [...].
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Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.