VENICE COMMISSION DISCONTENT WITH RA CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS DRAFT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Council of Europe's Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) has assessed the draft constitutional amendments, as adopted by the Armenian National Assembly in a first reading on 11 May 2005, PanARMENIAN.Net came to know from the CE Yerevan OfficeThe members of the Venice Commission's Working Group on constitutional reform in Armenia expressed their deep dissatisfaction with this text, as most of the Commission's comments have not been taken into consideration, notably those concerning the balance of powers between the President and the Parliament - which implies a stronger role of the National Assembly -, the independence of the judiciary and the election of the Mayor of Yerevan (instead of his/her appointment by the President). "The draft constitutional amendments need to be drastically revised before they undergo the second reading", said Kaarlo Tuori, member of the Venice Commission in respect of Finland. The members of the Working Group also stated that if the text does not fully reflect the Venice Commission's opinions, the whole constitutional reform process would fail to bring Armenia closer to European values and attain the aim of further European integration. Representatives of the Working Group will visit Armenia on 2 June to discuss these issues with the Armenian authorities.