Will Authorities Avoid Surprises? When Will the New Composition of the Constitutional Court Be Ready?

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" reports: The National Assembly passed the draft constitutional amendments with 89 votes in favor, without any votes against or abstentions. The draft proposes to terminate the powers of Constitutional Court judges who have served for over 12 years. This will consequently end Hrayr Tovmasyan's tenure as president of the Constitutional Court, as well as the powers of three of its nine members: Grant Nazaryan, Felix Tokhyan, and Alvina Gyulumyan.

Moreover, these changes will be implemented quite swiftly, and after the publication of the draft by the National Assembly, the deputies can already hold a closed secret ballot in the parliament to elect new members of the Constitutional Court.

It is noteworthy that the Constitutional Court is set to begin consideration on July 7 of the case based on the application from Robert Kocharyan, who is accused of undermining the constitutional order and receiving especially large sums of bribes, according to Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code regarding compliance with the Constitution. According to information from "Zhoghovurd," the authorities wish to have a new composition of the Constitutional Court by then to avoid surprises, as it is not ruled out that the current composition may be declared unconstitutional, in which case the criminal case would be terminated.

Additionally, it is interesting that as of yesterday, the My Step faction did not have any candidates and was engaged in intense discussions, still unaware of whom to nominate for the three vacant positions. Furthermore, the election must take place on the same day.