Discussions Remain Unfinished, Says Daniel Ioannissian

Daniel Ioannissian, the president of the 'Informed Citizens' NGO, wrote on his Facebook page: 'Nikol Pashinyan announced yesterday that elections in enlarged communities should be held by proportional representation. Perhaps there is a general consensus on this issue. However, when we discussed this matter in our Electoral Reform Commission, we realized that with such a decision, we would need to clarify a number of issues:

1. Should the head of the community be elected directly or by the council? If directly, should this also apply to Yerevan, Gyumri, and Vanadzor, and should there be a recall mechanism?
2. Which specific communities should the electoral system apply to, and what transitional regulations should be in place? Should it apply to merged communities or just those over a certain population threshold (say, 10,000 residents)?
3. Can civic initiatives participate in local government elections held under a proportional representation system? If so, what restrictions, conditions, and regulations should apply?
4. What should the threshold be (or should there be one), and how can we ensure a balance between stability in local government and democracy?

We were unable to complete discussions on these issues as we focused on the parliamentary elections. It was planned that we would address these matters with the new parliament after its election later.'