US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN856

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000856 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR DRL AND EUR/CACEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, AM 
SUBJECT: ARMENIA: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS MOVING 
FORWARD IN PARLIAMENT 
 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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2. (SBU) In a May 11 extraordinary session, Armenia's 
parliament passed -- in the first reading -- the 
ruling coalition's draft amendments to the 
constitution.  Armenia has been under pressure from 
the international community to strengthen democratic 
institutions.  The amendments do not fully comply with 
the Council of Europe's recommendations, but the draft 
is still open for amendment until it passes a second 
reading.  Parliament Speaker Baghdasarian told the 
press that he anticipated further consultations with 
the CoE's Venice Commission before a second reading, 
which would likely take place in June.  FM Oskanian 
pledged that Armenia will "fulfill its requirements" 
by the end of the year.  The opposition continues its 
boycott of the national assembly and did not 
participate in debates on the new constitution.  End 
Summary. 
 
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COALITION'S VERSION FIRST OUT OF THREE 
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3. (SBU) It came as no surprise that the ruling 
coalition's version of constitutional amendments was 
the one to move forward in the legislative process in 
Armenia's parliament on May 11.  Three sets of draft 
amendments to the constitution had been circulating 
for comment.  In second place was a pro-business draft 
put forward by the United Labor Party (the "loyal 
opposition," not part of the coalition, but still 
participating in parliament), but since the ULP has 
only six seats in the Assembly, it garnered little 
support.  Coming in a distant third was a draft put 
forward by opposition parliamentarian, Arshak Sadoyan. 
The coalition draft won an expected clear majority in 
the National Assembly with 77 MPs voting for it, and 8 
against it.  Opposition parliamentarians did not 
participate in the vote, continuing their boycott of 
parliamentary sessions begun in early 2004.  As a next 
step, the approved draft will be presented to the 
Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (CoE) for a 
final examination before the second reading. 
 
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FULFILLING COE REQUIREMENTS 
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4. (SBU) The Council of Europe has required that 
Armenia amend its current Constitution in order to 
comply with its CoE commitments.  The process has been 
delayed for several years, with the next CoE deadline 
for conducting the referendum scheduled for June 2005. 
In the end of April the head of the Armenian 
delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE 
(PACE) Tigran Torosyan promised that the referendum on 
the Constitution will take place in the end of July or 
beginning of August.  In comments to the press on May 
12, Parliament Speaker Artur Baghdasarian was less 
specific, and told the press that the referendum would 
more likely take place "in the Fall," and that more 
consultations with the Venice Commission were expected 
before the draft was submitted for the next vote. 
According to press reports, FM Oskanian said that 
"Armenia would fulfill the CoE requirements" by the 
end of 2005. 
 
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PRESIDENTIAL POWERS REMAIN STRONG 
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5. (SBU) The Venice Commission had already made 
interim recommendations on all the three drafts. 
While some changes were made to the approved draft, it 
still falls short of CoE requirements.  For example, 
the current draft does not provide adequate checks and 
balances between the branches of power, and in fact 
increases the President's authority, raising concerns 
among Armenia's human rights activists.  The draft 
would authorize the President to appoint the 
Prosecutor General and his deputies without the Prime 
Minister's nomination, the President could suspend any 
governmental decision by requesting an advisory 
opinion by the Constitutional Court, and the President 
would retain the right to appoint and dismiss regional 
Governors and the Yerevan mayor. 
6. (SBU) Some proposed changes include:  increasing 
National Assembly terms from four to five years 
(leaving the number of MPs at 131); granting the 
National Assembly the authority to appoint the Human 
Right Ombudsman;  expanding the list of entities that 
can apply to the Constitutional Court to include 
individuals, representatives of Local Self-Governance 
bodies and the Ombudsman; clearly defining the 
constitutional ban on the death penalty; and removing 
the ban from dual citizenship. 
 
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COMMENT: NOW IS THE TIME TO SPEAK UP 
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7. (SBU) While this draft is clearly not all that the 
CoE or we were hoping to see, now is the time when our 
comments could have the greatest effect, during the 
anticipated four-week period between the first and 
second readings of this constitutional draft. 
Pointed, well-crafted interventions by international 
players and representatives of civil society could 
have a positive effect at this stage.  We will be 
taking advantage of every opportunity to press the 
GOAM to strengthen checks on executive authority and 
anticipate that engaged international interlocutors 
could make a genuine difference in the process. 
EVANS