Epress.am News from Armenia
Though first the government, then the National Assembly Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs rejected a bill proposing to hold the upcoming parliamentary elections only on the party-list basis, parliamentary opposition parties Heritage and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun, ARF-D) will be putting this bill to a vote in the National Assembly on Feb. 28, reports local daily Chorrord Inqnishkhanutyun (“Fourth Self-Authority”).
According to law, if a parliamentary standing committee doesn’t wish to include a particular issue on the parliament’s agenda (in other words, turning it down), parliamentary factions can recognize the issue as urgent and raise it for discussion in the second day of parliament’s four-day sitting and then put it to a vote.
Recall, the existing Electoral Code stipulates that 90 of the 131 parliament seats are to be contested under the system of proportional representation (the party-list basis). The remaining 41 deputies are elected in single-seat constituencies across the country. The opposition is proposing that all seats be contested under the system of proportional representation.
As reported by the paper, the parliamentary opposition is prepared to go this route and on the day the issue will be discussed political groups will organize a protest outside the parliament building, which aims to increase public pressure on the bill and point out that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia led by the president is opposing a public demand.