Jiravayr. Yes and No. Who Remains by the Ruling Party

«Jiravayr» newspaper writes: «Despite the fact that the law of the Republic of Armenia on referendums stipulates that each question put to the referendum should have both 'Yes' and 'No' headquarters, the fate of the latter remains unclear at this time.

In particular, Article 17 of the law on referendums of the Republic of Armenia states: 'The opposition to the proposed decision of the National Assembly to hold a referendum or to the draft law submitted to the National Assembly by civil initiative can be formed by the members of the National Assembly who voted against or abstained.' This means that those opposing the constitutional amendments should be the parliamentary opposition groups 'Bright Armenia' and the 'Prosperous Armenia' party.

However, the leader of the 'Bright Armenia' faction, Edmon Marukyan, announced yesterday that they are abstaining and will not participate in the campaign. Although the other parliamentary opposition group, 'Prosperous Armenia', has decided not to join their opposition colleagues and refrain from approaching the Constitutional Court, it is reported that this party may still participate in the 'No' campaign.

According to the newspaper, Prosperous Armenia is actively discussing this issue, but they have decided to wait until the end of this week to understand the situation regarding the 'No' camp and to make a final decision. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that they may form one side of the 'No' camp.

However, the same law on referendums provides the opportunity for extraparliamentary forces to form a 'No' camp, but it sets clear rules. This means that if an alternative headquarters is formed, it must consist of at least 50 citizens.

According to the newspaper, the opposition extraparliamentary forces such as the Republican Party of Armenia, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and the team of second president Robert Kocharian also have not decided to participate in the campaign for constitutional amendments. Civil society representatives also do not have such a decision.

Meanwhile, the ruling 'Civil Contract' party will not be alone during the campaign for constitutional amendments. Yesterday, the 'Armenian National Congress' and the 'Republic' party issued statements saying they support the constitutional amendment proposed by the National Assembly and will participate in the 'Yes' campaign.

For more details, refer to today's issue of the newspaper.