Armenian PM Calls For Changes To Electoral System Ahead Of Snap Polls

YEREVAN -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has said his parliamentary bloc plans to pass amendments that would switch the electoral system to a fully proportional one before snap parliamentary elections scheduled for June.

During a question-and-answer session in parliament on March 24, Pashinian called for “simple changes” to the electoral laws under which the next parliament will be elected.

The prime minister, whose My Step faction dominates the National Assembly, said the main proposed change should concern the mixed electoral system under which parliament members are picked through party lists and individual races.

Representatives of the opposition Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia parties have recently said they did not favor changes to the electoral code before the June 20 elections.

However, they have indicated that their parties would participate in the polls in any case.

Pashinian and opposition factions agreed to hold early general elections in an effort to defuse a political crisis sparked by the war with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.