06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Political system ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 20100]

"Armenia, with a population of approximately 3.2 million, is a republic. The constitution provides for a popularly elected president (Robert Kocharian) and a unicameral legislature (National Assembly). A constitutional referendum in 2005 and presidential and National Assembly elections in 2003 were seriously flawed and did not meet international standards. The country has a multiparty political system. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces; members of the security forces committed a number of human rights abuses."

Document(s): Open document

03.02.2006 - Source: Armenialiberty

Growing involvement of wealthy government-linked businessmen in politics; creation of political parties by “oligarchs”; there is concern that votes will be bought ("Speaker Warns Of Mass Vote Buying In Armenia") [#43639],  [ID 2791]

Document(s): Open document

02.02.2006 - Source: Armenialiberty

According to local NGOs, country has failed to democratise its political system; even regressed in some areas since being admitted into the Council of Europe 5 years ago ("Civic Groups See No Progress In Armenia’s Democratization") [#43632],  [ID 2792]

Document(s): Open document

28.02.2005 - Source: US Department of State

Democratic framework, strong presidential powers over executive authority and judiciary ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004") [#29491],  [ID 2793]

"Armenia is a republic with a Constitution that provides for the separation of powers; however, the directly elected president has broad executive powers that are not balanced by the legislature (National Assembly) or the judiciary. The President appoints the Prime Minister, most senior government officials, and judges at all levels. In March 2003, President Robert Kocharian was re-elected for a second 5-year term in elections marred by serious voting irregularities. The May 2003 parliamentary election was flawed similarly and did not meet international standards. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, in practice, judges were subject to pressure from the executive branch, and corruption was a problem."

Document(s): Open document

15.04.2004 - Source: Civil Georgia

Interview with analyst Richard Giragosian on the consequences of Georgia's "revolution of roses" for Armenia ("Analyst: Georgian Revolution Holds no Lessons for Armenia") [#21393],  [ID 2794]

Document(s): Open document

31.03.2003 - Source: US Department of State

The National Assembly (Parliament) ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002") [#11840],  [ID 2795]

"The National Assembly (Parliament) consists of 131 deputies; under amendments to the Electoral Code passed this year, 75 are elected on a proportional basis and 56 on a district-by-district majoritarian basis, a reversal basis of the proportions in the old law. Regular sessions of Parliament are held twice a year: The first from mid-September to mid-December, and the second from early February until mid-June. Given the large amount of legislative business, special sessions frequently are called, but may not last more than 6 days. The nominal majority in Parliament is made up of a coalition called Unity, which includes the two parties that gained the most votes in the May 1999 Parliamentary elections: the Republican Party and the Peoples' Party. The coalition still formally existed but had become largely inoperative after 2000 due to disagreements between the two parties, with the People's Party usually opposing the Government. The Government has maintained a majority for most of its proposals by adding to the votes of the Republicans those of a number of smaller parties such as the ARF/Dashnaks, Orinats Yerkir, and a large number of independents, including those in a bloc called the Agro-Technical Peoples' Union. In 2000 this bloc split and the minority faction renamed itself "Peoples Deputies;" however, both factions continued to support the Government. Some deputies from the Unity coalition left the coalition during 2000 over policy differences, and during 2001 formed the new Republic Party, which opposed the Government on most issues, and which has reduced, but not eliminated, Unity's majority. During the year, the Speaker of Parliament and one deputy speaker formally left the People's Party and became independents.
Amendments to the Electoral Code, passed in July--in addition to reversing the percentages of proportional (party list) versus majoritarian (single mandate) seats--include the following changes: abolishing the Regional Election Commissions, which had been largely dormant; mandating that local authorities must update electoral rolls every six months in addition to just before elections; ordering that parties which are not represented in Parliament will not be represented on the CEC; allowing draftees and trainees in the armed forces (but not officers) to vote in nationwide elections (i.e., in presidential and in party-list legislative elections, but not single-mandate legislative or local elections); and providing that members of the CEC appointed by the President or political parties cannot be removed from office until 30 days after the next election except for just cause. However, a number of amendments which would have enhanced election transparency failed. It was also announced that municipal elections would be held on October 20, that the next presidential election would take place on February 19, 2003, and that the next legislative general election would take place in May 2003, possibly at the same time as the referendum on a proposed package of constitutional amendments.
The executive branch appoints the 10 regional governors (marzpets) and the mayor of Yerevan. The Constitution gives local communities the right to elect local authorities. Local elected officials have limited powers, but were allowed to levy taxes. They were somewhat overshadowed in practice by the appointed governors, who can remove them from office but seldom did so. Some local officials were corrupt and subjected to pressure from superiors.
There were no female cabinet ministers, although there were several female deputy ministers. Only 4 of the 131 deputies in the Parliament were female. The population of the country is at least 95 percent ethnic Armenian, and there were no ethnic minority representatives in the Cabinet or in the Parliament, although they are not prohibited from running and have run for office."

Document(s): Open document

31.03.2003 - Source: US Department of State

Constitution provides for the separation of powers; directly elected President has extensive powers ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002") [#11840],  [ID 2796]

"Armenia has a Constitution that provides for the separation of powers; however, the directly elected President has extensive powers of appointment and decree that are not balanced by the legislature or an independent judiciary. The President appoints the Prime Minister, who is in charge of the Cabinet. Robert Kocharian was elected President in a multi-candidate election in 1998 after former President Levon Ter-Petrossian was forced to resign by his former political allies in the Government and Parliament. There were flaws and substantial irregularities in both rounds of the 1998 presidential elections. Although marred by irregularities, the May 1999 parliamentary elections and several 2000, 2001, and 2002 by-elections showed continued improvement over past elections, and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers categorized the former as relevant steps toward compliance with OSCE commitments, but stated that they still failed to meet international standards. Amendments to the Electoral Code passed in August addressed a number of long-standing electoral problems. The majority in Parliament is made up of a coalition called "Unity", which includes the two parties which gained the most votes in the May 1999 Parliamentary elections, the Republican Party and the Peoples Party; however, due to political differences between the Republican Party and the Peoples Party, the Unity coalition during the year largely ceased to function. The legislature approves new laws, confirms the Prime Minister's program, and can remove the Prime Minister by a vote of no confidence. Both the Government and the legislature can propose legislation. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, in practice, judges were subject to pressure from the executive branch and some were corrupt."

Document(s): Open document

2003 - Source:

Official website of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia ("Official website of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia(english)") [ID 2802]

Document(s): Official website of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia(english)

28.11.2002 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Since the October 1999 coup, the overall political situation has stabilized ("8th European Country of Origin Information Seminar Vienna, 28 - 29 June 2002: Final Report - Armenia - co-funded by the EU Odysseus Programme") [#9877],  [ID 2800]

"In general, the workings of Armenian politics are very complicated and difficult to explain. Nevertheless, one can observe that after the coup of 27 October 1999, which left two of the most powerful politicians, then-prime minister Vazgen Sargsian and thenspeaker of the National Assembly Karen Demirchan, dead, the authority and power of Kocharian and the presidency has been paramount. Since the October 1999 events, the overall political situation has stabilized. As none of the political parties represented in parliament has an absolute majority or anything similar to a majority, and the party system in Armenia is very fragmented, the authority indeed lies with the president and not with any of the 94 political parties officially registered in Armenia. Therefore, many believe that Robert Kocharian will be re-elected in the upcoming presidential elections in February 2003. Likewise, the socalled ”power ministries” – Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of National Security - wield great influence over the political scene while the prime minister has considerably less political clout. As a consequence, there is no effective opposition in the Armenian parliament. Moreover, it is difficult to discern political agenda of the opposition apart from their antipresidential stance. It is often observed that both opposition and government have a similar agenda in the form of their aspiration for positions of power. Thus, although Armenia has been independent for ten years now, democratic structures have not yet solidified. Legally, both the government and the legislature have a right to initiate a law. But in practice, in most cases the government prepares draft laws. Typically, one of the ministries works out a draft that gets circulated within the government and, after approval by the cabinet, is forwarded to the National Assembly. The National Assembly normally has at least two readings, whereby the second reading means the adoption of the law. Domestic politics in Armenia cannot be seen in isolation from foreign and international politics, especially in light of the closure of the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey and resultant economic impact. Armenia has to carefully balance between the interest of its partners, Russia and Iran, on the one hand and the United States on the other. Iran and the Russian Federation of course are not interested in the United States wielding too much influence in the Caucasus, if indirectly via the Turkish government."

Document(s): Arm-cois2002-rep.pdf

10.2002 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Decentralisation, direct democracy and local autarchy ("Analysen und Hintergründe ") [#10328],  [ID 2801]

"Die Einwohner Armeniens wählen bei Parlaments-, Präsidentenwahlen sowie bei Kommunalwahlen den Bürgermeister und den aus acht bis 15 Mitgliedern bestehenden Gemeinderat. Kommunalwahlen sind im Vergleich mit den landesweiten Wahlen weniger politisiert. Im Verhältnis zwischen den Bürgermeistern der KDPDMQNQHUund den Gemeinderäten wiederholt sich das Verhältnis zwischen dem "starken" Staatspräsidenten und der Nationalversammlung. Die Gemeinderäte bilden die örtliche "Legislative"; ihre Sitzungen werden vom Bürgermeister geleitet, der offiziell nur beratende Stimme besitzt, faktisch aber einen grossen Einfluss auf die Entscheidungen ausübt. Der Bürgermeister verkörpert die Exekutive in einem KDPDMQN und besitzt einen Stab, dessen Grösse sich entsprechend dem Regierungsbeschluss Nr. 372 vom 6. Dezember 1996 nach der Zahl der Einwohner der Gemeinde bemisst; ein Stellvertretender Bürgermeister und ein Sekretär gehören auf jeden Fall dazu. Der Bürgermeister darf keine zusätzlichen Staatsämter ausüben und auch keiner anderen bezahlten Arbeit nachgehen. In Jerewan setzt sich der Stadtrat aus dem vom Präsidenten ernannten Bürgermeister der Hauptstadt und den Stadtteil-Bürgermeistern zusammen. Zu den regulären Aufgaben der Gemeinderäte gehören:
– Bestimmungen für die Gemeinderäte
– Festsetzung des Gehalts des Bürgermeisters unter Berücksichtigung gesetzlicher Bestimmungen
– Verabschiedung der Zusammensetzung des Stabes des Bürgermeisters
– Verabschiedung des allgemeinen städtischen Entwicklungsplans der Gemeinde
– Verabschiedung des Jahreshaushalts der Gemeinde
– allgemeine Bestimmungen der Gemeinde für die Tätigkeit von Unternehmen und Handelsorganisationen
sowie der öffentlichen Dienstleistungen
– Verabschiedung der jährlichen Eigentumsinventar-Dokumente
– Veröffentlichung des Dreijahresprogramms der Gemeindeentwicklung und des Jahrshaushalts
– die jährliche Stellungnahme des Gemeindeoberhaupts zur Durchführung des Haushalts
Der Gemeinderat kann ferner entscheiden:
– über die Entlassung des Gemeindeoberhaupts (Bürgermeister)
– über den Erhalt jeglicher Auskunft von Staatsbehörden und Beamten, sofern die Information
nicht als Staatsgeheimnis eingestuft ist
– Novellierungen des Haushalts
– Beschlüsse über Umbenennungen von Strassen, Plätzen und Parks
– Weitere Entscheidungen
Das Gesetz für die örtliche Selbstverwaltung sieht keine öffentliche Teilnahme am Entscheidungsprozess vor, räumt aber diese Möglichkeit ein. Die Verfassung erlaubt Formen der direkten Demokratie (Referenden, öffentliche Anhörungen, Bürgertreffen), aber sie wurden bisher in der örtlichen Selbstregierungs-Praxis nur selten angewendet. Die wichtigsten Ursachen hierfür sind der Mangel an Finanzen, normative Handlungen und Projekte, die Passivität von nicht-staatlichen Organisationen, organisatorische Schwierigkeiten und ein sehr geringes Wissen der Bürger über örtliche Behörden und deren Zuständigkeiten. Obwohl den örtlichen Selbstregierungskörperschaften gegenwärtig die Autorität fehlt, um genügend Einkünfte für die Durchsetzung des Gemeindehaushalts und -entwicklungsplans zu sammeln, kümmern sich die regionalen und zentralen Behörden nicht um die Bedürfnisse bzw. Förderung der hamajnkner."

Document(s): Open document