Serzh Sargsyan meets members of Commission on Constitutional Reforms

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met today with the members of the Special Commission on Constitutional Reforms, according to the presidential press service.

The process of public discussions on the draft concept of constitutional reforms and the intermediate results were discussed at the meeting.

The Commission head, Chairman of Armenia’s Constitutional Court Gagik Harutyunyan expressed satisfaction with the process and contents of public discussions, noting the public takes quite a great interest in the process of constitutional reforms, and the participants are active as expected.

He highly appreciated the assistance provided by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the EU Delegation in Armenia, the USAID, and GIZ enterprise (Germany) in organizing the hearings.

According to Gagik Harutyunyan, proposals were made during the discussions to continue public discussions of the draft concept in various formats, including discussions in provinces, and to summarize the results together with international expert organizations.

The commission members spoke about the public demand to expand the format and geography of additional consultations. At the same time, taking into account the wide range of various issues raised at discussions, the importance of their close examination, and the need to organize additional public discussions, a proposal was made to extend the term of public discussions for at least 3 months.

President Sargsyan said that public discussions of the draft concept serve their purpose. He stressed the necessity of an in-depth examination of all issues indicated in the draft concept and holding discussions on all the problems of vital importance to Armenia. He approved the proposals submitted by the commission, noting that they will be stipulated by the law.