Assembly President calls on Armenians to vote in Constitutional referendum

23 de noviembre de 2005
Council of Europe

The President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, René van der Linden, has appealed to all Armenian citizens to participate in the forthcoming Constitutional referendum on 27 November.

“The revision of the Constitution is a major political event that will affect the daily lives of all Armenian citizens. It is therefore important that everyone expresses their opinion,” he said.

“Failure of this referendum due to a too low turnout, a repetition of what happened during the first Constitutional referendum on 25 May 2003, would be a major setback for Armenia’s progress in fulfilling some of the most important commitments the country made when joining the Council of Europe.”

The President concluded: “This is an opportunity for Armenians to show their commitment to Europe.”

Two Council of Europe bodies, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, will observe the referendum. The Consitutional reform was also the subject of an opinion by the Council’s group of experts in constitutional law, the Venice Commission.

Link to President’s comments following his visit to Armenia

Link to Venice Commission’s final opinion

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