Referendum in Armenia: EPDE opens media center in Yerevan
Yerevan, 1 December 2015: EPDE opens International Media Center in Yerevan, Armenia for the Constitutional Referendum scheduled on 6 December 2015. Domestic and international experts will provide exclusive information on the preparations for the referendum and the conduct of the voting day. Simultaneous English translation and live stream on the EPDE website will be provided […]
Armenian Election Monitoring Groups protest against pushing forward constitutional reform by the presidential administration
We urge the Armenian authorities not to appoint the constitutional referendum without a substantial public debate, as well as before establishing preconditions for transparent voting. We appeal to the international institutions who promotes democracy and human rights not to support the constitutional referendum in Armenia in the situation of the distrust towards the authorities or […]
Armenian Election Monitoring Groups protest against pushing forward constitutional reform by the presidential administration
On September 4, 2013, President Serzh Sargsyan made a unilateral decision to introduce amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. The referendum was pushed forward by the authorities rather quickly and aggressively. Many international standards for referendums, as set forth in Venice Commission’s Code of Good Practice on Referendums (2007) are not observed.
Civic observers protest against the intransparent pushing for constitutional reform in Armenia
Armenian authorities push forward a referendum on comprehesive constitutional amendments changing the governance system from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary one. The changes would enable the incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan to stay in power after the expiration of his second and last term in office and to secure the monopoly power of his polical party. […]
Armenian constitutional amendments raise civil society concerns
STATEMENT OF ARMENIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS INITIATED BY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA Yerevan, June 5, 2015: On September 4 2013, the President of Armenia Serj Sargsyan issued a decree to establish a Specialized Commission on Constitutional Reforms under the President’s office to draft amendments to the Armenian Constitution. […]
EPDE holds training for citizens observers in Armenia
From December 16 through December 18, EPDE holds a training for Armenian citizen election observer groups on coalition building and new methods of election observation. The training will take place in Tbilisi and will be hosted by the EPDE member ISFED (The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy). The training is part of […]
EPDE Statement on Presidential Elections in Armenia, 18 February 2013
The elections were characterised by a lack of political competition, low-key campaigning and a relatively low presence of partisan election observers in precincts on election-day. This has to be explained with the decision of the three main opposition parties not to nominate their candidates for the Presidential elections and consequently not to deploy their […]