The Partnership for Open Society Initiative, having in mind the importance of reforms carried out in the Republic of Armenia towards strengthening democracy and the rule of law, is deeply concerned about the adoption of the Republic of Armenia Law on Amending the Electoral Code (dated May 19, 2005) and about the Council of Europe Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR experts’ assessing the draft Law as progress.    

Some provisions of the Republic of Armenia Law on Amending the Electoral Code (dated May 19, 2005) are in fact progressive compared to the extant Code.  Nevertheless, the Law as a whole cannot be considered a real improvement of the Electoral Code, especially because some of the fundamental provisions have deteriorated.         

Genuine electoral reform should ensure the formation of balanced electoral commissions.  The commission formation procedure defined in the Amendments does not ensure the balanced or impartial nature of electoral commissions.  The provision on including judges in the electoral commissions directly contradicts Article 98 of the Republic of Armenia Constitution, which provides that “a judge and Constitutional Court member may not hold another public office...”  Appointment of judges to the electoral commissions, in view of the judges’ dependence upon the executive branch, cannot be considered “a positive step towards attaining a greater degree of political plurality.”

The Republic of Armenia Law on Amending the Electoral Code (dated May 19, 2005) contains numerous other provisions that render it impossible to consider these Amendments a true reform.  Among such provisions are the following:
-    Eliminating the requirement that three commission members sign a ballot;
-    Requiring that voter lists in military detachments not be publicized;
-    Restricting the time period and methods that can be used by the Territorial Electoral Commission to re-count the vote results;
-    Defining a general procedure for reviewing electoral complaints and suggestions;         
-    Detachment of coupons from ballots, which will cause the coupons to lose their controlling function; and
-    Defining a procedure by which qualification certificates will be issued to electoral commission members, without the Code setting forth any standards, and reserving the right to issue such certificates to the CEC.
The Partnership for Open Society Initiative calls upon the authorities of Armenia to reconsider the adopted Law with a view to making it fully consistent with the international standards on free and fair elections.
           
The Partnership for Open Society Initiative highly appreciates the support of the Venice Commission and ODIHR towards strengthening democracy in Armenia, as well as their expert opinions on reforms implemented in the country.  However, the Partnership for Open Society Initiative disagrees with the assessment of the Venice Commission and ODIHR experts regarding the Republic of Armenia Law on Amending the Electoral Code (dated May 19, 2005), whereby they state that the procedure of electoral commission formation prescribed by the Law “represents an improvement, because it enhances political plurality in the formation of the Central Electoral Commission and the Territorial Electoral Commissions.”  Perhaps, experts of the Venice Commission and ODIHR could fail to notice that the inclusion of judges in the electoral commissions contradicts the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia.  However, it is even more worrisome that a member of the Venice Commission could fail to take into consideration the concerns expressed by the Council of Europe and his own Venice Commission regarding the dependent condition of the judiciary in Armenia.  The draft opinion of the Venice Commission and ODIHR regarding the draft law does not address the aforementioned problems concerning the law.
          
The Partnership for Open Society Initiative calls upon the Venice Commission and ODIHR to pay attention to the aforementioned issues regarding the Republic of Armenia Law on Amending the Electoral Code (dated May 19, 2005) and make an appropriate assessment of the draft law in their joint opinion.

Yerevan, May 24, 2005