Changes, But Not This Time: Following the Night Emergency Session

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" reports: "During the night emergency session held in parliament yesterday, a package of draft laws on amendments and additions to the 'Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia' was approved in the first reading. As is known, one provision of this package—the transition to a proportional electoral system—has already been accepted by the parliament and will be applied in the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for June 20.

This large package was also sent to the Venice Commission, and on April 22, the ruling party received their conclusion. However, it should be noted that none of the provisions of the draft adopted yesterday will be applied during the snap parliamentary elections on June 20.

So, what main changes are being proposed? Firstly, the procedure for parties to enter the parliament is simplified, while it becomes more complicated for alliances. Now, instead of the current 5% threshold, a party will enter the parliament even with 4%, which means the threshold is lowered. However, for alliances, different regulations apply instead of the current 7%. If the alliance consists of two parties, the passing threshold is 8%; if it consists of three parties, it’s 9%; and if it consists of four or more parties, the threshold is 10%.

It should be noted that during these snap parliamentary elections, the opposition forces will primarily operate in an alliance, while the ruling party has not excluded the option of participating as a party. Thus, since both the Republican Party-‘Homeland’ alliance and the ‘Reviving Armenia’-ARF alliance involve two forces, the passing threshold for them would be 8% if the provisions of this code were applicable.

According to the current law, the second round of parliamentary elections is held on the 28th day after the voting day, while according to the new law, it would be held on the 42nd day. If any party has received 50% of the total distributed mandates, that party receives the minimum number of additional mandates, ensuring that the percentage of its mandates is at least 52%. The current code provides for 54%. Another change is proposed for municipalities with up to 4,000 voters, establishing that the elections for the community leader and council members are conducted through a majoritarian electoral system."