Yerevan Municipality to Allocate Spaces for the 'Hayakve' Initiative

The Yerevan Municipality has approved the application to allocate space for the 'Hayakve' initiative in the offices of all administrative districts. This information was shared by Levon Sargsyan, head of the Yerevan Municipality's press service, on the municipality's Facebook page.

Previously, it was reported that members of the initiative stated that authorities were obstructing the collection of signatures for 'Hayakve.' Letters of rejection were received from the Avan, Nor Nork, Kentron, Nubarashen, and Ajapnyak administrative districts.

The municipality responded to these statements, clarifying that representatives of the administrative districts did not refuse to allocate spaces for the initiative, but instead suggested that they apply to the Yerevan Municipality for the necessary permission, highlighting the division of responsibilities.

“Today, the Yerevan Municipality has officially responded to the request of Aram Petrosyan, a representative of the 'Hayakve' initiative, and informed that the request for allocating space for conducting a signature collection aimed at proposing a draft law to the National Assembly on amending the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia has been approved,” Sargsyan wrote.

One public servant from each administrative district will participate in the signature collection process.

It should be recalled that on June 20, it became known that the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Armenia approved the 'Hayakve' initiative's application to collect 50,000 signatures and submit a legislative initiative to the National Assembly.

Members of the initiative aim to impose strict penalties by law for the denial of self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh and for downplaying the significance of the Armenian Genocide through a referendum.

A 60-day period for the signature collection has been established, running from June 21 to August 19, 2023.