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On March 22, the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs organized parliamentary hearings to discuss the RA Draft Electoral Code. The RA NA Deputy Speakers Eduard Sharmazanov and Hermine Naghdalyan, the NA deputies, the NKR NA deputies, representatives of the extra-parliamentary political forces, the NGOs, the national minorities and the international organizations and others.

Opening the work of the parliamentary hearings, the Chairman of the NA State and Legal Affairs Hovhannes Sahakyan has noted that as a result of debate held in parliament a few days ago with the participation of the political forces on the draft, serious debates were held in the Working Group. Mr Sahakyan expressed conviction that the concerns and recommendations which will be submitted during the hearings will be discussed by the Working Group.

The key speaker, the Minister-Chief of Staff of the RA Government Davit Harutyunyan presented in detail the Amendments to the RA Electoral Code.

Davit Harutyunyan also answered the attendees’ questions, which related to the events being implemented against electoral fraud, necessity of the legislative amendments to decrease the vote buying, the necessity of making stricter the established punishment towards the person giving the vote bribing, the use of the coloured ballot papers, the simplification of the draft, the restriction of the number of the observers and the mass media in the polling stations, the process of the installation of the voter’s electronic registration devices in the polling stations, the increase of the number of the women’s presentation in parliament, the format of the participation of the national minorities in the elections of the National Assembly, the keeping of the electronic cards and the way of the voting electronic registration, the accuracy of the electoral lists and the fingers’ inking.

By Hovhannes Sahakyan’s proposal the attendees honoured in one-minute silence the memory of the innocent victims as a consequence of explosions occurred in the International Airport and Metro in Brussels in the morning.

Afterwards exchange of thoughts took place. The representative of the Midia-Shangal Yezidi National Civil-Legal NGO Amo Sharoyan, talking about the national minorities’ representation in the National Assembly, also proposed to include the representatives of the national minorities in the Working Group.

The NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov and the NA deputies Ishkhan Khachatryan, Levon Zurabyan, Samvel Nikoyan, Ruzanna Muradyan and Margarit Yesayan delivered speeches on the draft law.

Eduard Sharmazanov highlighted the concerned debates on the Draft Electoral Code. According to the NA Deputy Speaker, the main goal of the revision of the Electoral Code is the fact that the society should trust the procedure and the results of the elections. Once again touching upon the publication of the electoral lists, Eduard Sharmazanov has noticed that the official publication is not allowed but it is possible to take an excerpt and get familiarized with it. Eduard Sharmazanov proposed all political forces, the representatives of the NGOs to work together to have an Electoral Code admissible by everybody.

In his final speech the Minister-Chief of Staff of the RA Government Davit Harutyunyan, once again touching upon the publication of the electoral lists, has informed that it is noted in the relevant document of the Venice Commission that the voters’ lists should not be published.

Davit Harutyunyan thanked all the concerned sides for the recommendations and noted that they are ready to discuss them once again.

Summing up the parliamentary hearings, the Chairman of the NA State and Legal Affairs Hovhannes Sahakyan thanked the participants for the concerned debates and noted that, as a result of admissible recommendations, the revised draft will be submitted for the debate of the parliament. Mr Sahakyan highly assessed the role of the civil society in the process of formation of the electoral culture.