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German and Abkhaz observers positively asses the course of voting at Artsakh Constitutional referendum

February 20, 2017 By administrator

artsakh-referendumDeputy Speaker of the Parliament of the unrecognized Abkhaz Republic Gamisonia Alekseyevna who is monitoring the Artsakh ConstitutionalRreferendum has positively assessed the course of the voting. In an interview with panorama.am at 3/8 polling station Mrs. Alekseyevna said: “We are glad to be for a vote monitoring mission in Nagorno Karabakh. This is expected to become a historic day and we welcome the conduct of the referendum.”

Chairwoman at 3/8 polling station Lyudmila Harutyunyan told Panorama.am the voting continues in a routine manner with no incidents as of 10:00 a.m.

German observers watching the vote at 1/8 polling station have been satisfied with the course of the election process as well and hailed the organization of the referendum in an interview with Panorama.am

Chairwoman at the mentioned polling station Naira Petrosyan informed that as of 10:00 a.m. 67 citizens have casted their votes with no incidents recorded thus far.

To remind, the Artsakh people are voting today in a referendum on constitutional amendments which envisages a switch to a presidential form of governance. As the Chairwoman of NKR Referendum Central Commission Srbuhi Arzumanyan told at a briefing on early Monday, 280 polling stations opened at 08:00 a.m. throughout the country and at the Permanent Representation of the NKR in Yerevan.

Some 100 international observers are observing the vote, while 80 reporters representing 40 local and foreign media outlets are covering the election process.

 

Source Panorama.am

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Artsakh, Constitutional, referendum

Karabakh holding constitutional referendum February 20

January 19, 2017 By administrator

Nagorno Karabakh President Bako Sahakyan on Thursday, January 19 signed a decree on holding a constitutional referendum.

According to the decree, February 20 was set as the date for the referendum.

Karabakh’s National Assembly on Tuesday backed the plan to put the draft constitutional amendments to referendum.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Constitutional, Karabakh, referendum

Azerbaijan: Media report on mass violations during Constitutional Referendum

September 26, 2016 By administrator

vaiolationConstitutional referendum in Azerbaijan was marked by opposition protests and unjustified detentions of activists, website of Institute for War and Peace Reporting writes.

“These amendments are intended to perpetuate the power of the Aliyevs.  It is clear that they are already preparing the throne for Heydar Aliyev junior. They turn the republic into a monarchy, where power passes from father to son. A third generation of the Aliyevs, that is the worst that could happen to the country,” said Ulvi Hasanli, a board member of the youth movement NIDA.

As highlighted in the article, thousands of people took part in these protests. But although the rallies were sanctioned by the municipality, police detained dozens of activists both before and after the events.

Meanwhile, Global Risk Insights writes that it is clear that the constitutional changes have been proposed in order to entrench the position of the Aliyev regime within Azerbaijan. However, there are certain factors that have stimulated the regime to feel the need to find “legal” means to strengthen its position. 

Reportedly, economic discontent is rampant throughout Azerbaijan, and the level of corruption and repression is higher than the norm. It is no surprise that the oil and gas sector represents the “greatest source of corruption in the country” as it makes up around three-quarters of government revenue. A recent drop in Azerbaijan’s national currency has had a large impact on the socio-economic situation of ordinary Azerbaijanis and many have voiced their frustrations on the streets.

In addition to this, it is no coincidence that the Turkish coup attempt took place on the 15th July and the declaration of the referendum in Azerbaijan was announced on the 26th July. It is highlighted that Aliyev was afraid that oppositional forces within the country would put an end to his regime. He thought that these constitutional changes may act as a further defense against such forces.

Meanwhile, website of the Azerbaijani newspaper Azadliq writes that there has been mass ballot-stuffing during the Constitutional Referendum in Azerbaijan.

One of the voters, Javid Hajibeyli, told Azadliq that the authorities use “carousel voting” at the polling station N 82 in Aghjabedi.

The editor of the newspaper, Rovshan Hajibeyli, who is an observer at the polling station N 121 in Yeni Yasamal district of Baku, noted that the ballots are thrown into the boxes in piles.

“They do not require any identification documents here. They give several ballots to one person. People are brought to vote by cars, and then they are sent to vote at other polling stations. Here, the ‘carousel’ works very well,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Baku bureau of Radio Liberty writes that according to the chair of the National Council of the Democratic Forces, Jamil Hasanli, “the Azerbaijani nation has refused to participate in the Referendum en masse.”

“The numbers cited by the Central Voting Committee about the population’s participation in the voting are false. Those, who vote, are state employees. They were told to go to work that day and create an illusion of voting. Just now, a group of ‘carousel’ participants went from one polling station to another,” he said.

According to him, the Azerbaijani government refused to accept opposition’s appeal for an observer mission. “In any case, in the evening, they will announce the number they have prepared beforehand,” Hasanli noted.

The Baku bureau of Radio Liberty also reports that opposition party Musavat has issued a statement about the violations during the Constitutional Referendum.

For example, in Binagadi rayon, teachers entrust parents to participate in the voting at the nearest polling station, even if those people are registered in other places. Every teacher has to provide the attendance of 6 parents.

At the polling stations 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 in Salyan, the observers noted that there were “carousels” at the fourth polling station. At the third polling station, it was announced about the participation of 343 people, and at the fifth – of 430 people. However, the observers recorded only 8 and 5 voters respectively.

In Jalilabad, groups of doctors, teachers, and high school students were created, and they go to different polling stations to vote. The “carousel” takes place under the noses of the administrative organs of the region.

In the 45th polling station in Absheron, the voters are called to participate in the referendum with the help of loudspeakers fixed on cars.

Several voters state there have been serious violations at the 45th polling station in Absheron. They say that ballots are thrown into the boxes in packs.

In its turn, news agency Turan writes that at the polling station created in the school N 108 in Mashtaga municipality, ballots are given to eight-grade students, who are not eligible to vote yet.

“By 9 in the morning, the boxes were already filled with ballots. I was also offered several ballots,” a voter said.

A doctor from the Ministry of Healthcare told Turan reporter that although she lives in Yasamal rayon, she was ordered to go and vote in Nasimi rayon of the capital. She was threatened to be dismissed in case of refusal. It is highlighted that many other state officials are in a similar situation.

On July 18, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree to send a Project of Referendum Act on Introducing Amendments to the Constitution of Azerbaijan to the Constitutional Court of the country for consideration. The suggested amendments propose to introduce the institutes of the first vice-president and vice-presidents, who will be appointed and dismissed by the president of the country. In addition, the minimum age limit for a presidential candidate, which is now set to 35 years, will be eliminated. It is also planned to increase the presidential term from five to seven years. It is proposed to introduce an amendment in the Constitution providing for the dissolution of the parliament, a provision, which is not provided in the current Constitution.

Azerbaijani oppositionists and experts called the Constitutional amendments retrogressive considering them directed towards the strengthening of the authoritarianism in the country, which will lead to serious human rights violations.

 

Source Panorama.am

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Azerbaijan, Constitutional, protests, referendum

Bosnia Nationalist referendum wins overwhelming support from Bosnian Serbs

September 25, 2016 By administrator

bosnian-serbThe referendum would create a Serb national holiday that is at odds with Bosnia’s Catholic and Muslim communities. With more than 70 percent of the vote counted the result seems assured as 99.8 percent voted in favor

Bosnian Serb voters defied a constitutional court ruling and voted overwhelmingly in a referendum, to maintain a nationalist holiday.

The vote was held in the Serb Republic section of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and organizers said turnout could be as high as 60 percent. But the result of the referendum is not in doubt, according to officials who said that with 71 percent of the vote counted, 99.8 percent supported making January 9 a “Statehood Day” holiday.

The date coincides with a Serbian Orthodox Christian festival, and also marks the Serb territory’s succession from Bosnia in 1992, which triggered the worst fighting in Europe since World War II – a bloody civil war that lasted three years and killed 100,000 people.

The referendum was organized by the Serb Republic’s nationalist President Milorad Dodik, who some believe set up the vote as a prelude to a secession vote that is being dubbed a “day of Serb determination.”

Others suggest the referendum could be a prelude to renewed war. The claim dismissed not only by Dodik, but also Bakir Izetbegovic, who is chairman of the three-man inter-ethnic presidency of Bosnia and Herzogivina.

“There will be no war, nobody will destroy Republika Srpska,” said Izetbegovic, who is chairman of the country’s three-man inter-ethnic presidency.

But Izetbegovic said he believed that organizers of the illegal referendum will be prosecuted, “it was just the matter of time,” he said.

Dodik scoffed at the prospect of facing criminal charges. “Republika Srpska has nothing to fear,” he said.

Proud of Serb Republic

Earlier in the day Dodik cast his vote in the town of Pale, “I am proud of the people of Republika Srpska, of all those who came out and voted,” Dodik said.

Pale, near Sarajevo, was the headquarters of Bosnian Serb wartime President Radovan Karadzic. In April Karadzic was convicted by an international war crimes tribunal of genocide in the Bosnian war.

The Constitutional Court, based in Sarajevo, banned the referendum, concluding that the holiday itself discriminated against the region’s Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats.

Western diplomats also warned Dodik that the referendum violates the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended the Bosnian war and could prompt sanctions or criminal charges against the organizers.

The Serbs celebrate the holiday by hanging out Serb flags and holding Orthodox Christian ceremonies in public institutions, which non-Serbs say is aimed at excluding them.

The break-up of Yugoslavia began in 1991, and continued until the signing of the Dayton peace accord in 1995, which ended the conflict between the Serbs, the Croats and the Bosnians. The result was the sovereign states of Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Slovenia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia seceded in 1991.

Montenegro seceded in 2006 and Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008.

bik/rc (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Bosnian Serb voters defied, Constitutional, Court

Nagorno-Karabakh constitutional reforms reaffirm state sovereignty concept – politician

August 19, 2016 By administrator

gov-systemThe concept behind Nagorno-Karabakh’s new constitution represents a resolute effort towards restating the sovereign state’s specific character and essence, says Hrayr Tovmasyan, a former justice minister who collaborated with the commission tasked with elaborating Armenia’s constitutional reforms.

Speaking to Tert.am, Tovmasyan, now the chief of the Armenian National Assembly’s staff, described the current developments in the country as a serious step towards reinforcing democracy.

“This is a self-reliant and confident step towards demonstrating Nagorno-Karabakh’s unique character as an independent state. It isn’t modeled after Armenia in terms of its legislation and state system. [Nagorno-Karabakh] is trying to build its own state system considering its peculairaties. In terms of democracy and counterbalances of solutions, that’s a process running counter to the developments in the region. While Azerbaijan is preparing for constitutional reforms in an effort to eternalize the Aliyev dynasty, the processes in Karabakh are much more democratic in essence,” he noted.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Constitutional, Karabakh, reforms

Papazian: France constitutional court unlikely to reject law criminalizing denial of Armenian Genocide

July 6, 2016 By administrator

genocide as crime

YEREVAN. – The law criminalizing the denial of genocides will make it impossible to conduct the Turkish policy of denial in France, representative of the Armenian community said.

“This was a pre-election promise of Francois Hollande, and he kept it. This is a bill to criminalize the denial of all genocides and crimes against humanity. The bill will be reviewed in September and will be mst likely adopted. With the adoption of this draft law in France, no one will any longer have the right to say that there was no  Armenian Genocide, and this also applies to other genocides as well,” co-chairman of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France Mourad Papazian told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The National Assembly (NA) of France adopted the amendments proposed to the bill on “Equality and citizenship” on July 1. The amendments propose to establish 45,000 euro penalty for denying the crimes against humanity. In fact, the document specifically mentions about criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.

Asked whether it is possible that the French Constitutional Council could reject the law as it happened last time, Mr. Papazian said that this time the bill had been studied by lawyers and such an outcome is almost impossible: “We made sure that there were no gaps. We are pretty sure that this time the court will not give up. But, of course, we cannot be 100%”.

Representatives of the Armenian community of France are doing everything to ensure that in September the bill would pass the Senate. Mr. Papazian added that the Turkish side is also active in the opposite.

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: Armenian, Constitutional, Court, criminalizing, denial, France, Genocide

19 Armenian MPs sign petition to dispute constitutional referendum results in court

December 18, 2015 By administrator

f56741815ec74a_56741815ec7a1.thumbMembers of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) parliamentary faction will file today a petition to the Constitutional Court of Armenia. The petition signed by 19 deputies of the Armenian parliament aims to dispute the results of the constitutional referendum held in Armenia on December 6, according to the press service of ANC Party.

On December 13 the Central Election Commission of Armenia approved the final results of the December 6 referendum on the amendments to the Constitution. 825,521 voters (63.37%) voted for the constitutional reform, while 421,568 (32.36%) voted against.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Armenian, Constitutional, referendum

Armenia: Preliminary outcomes of constitutional referendum unveiled: ‘Yes’ outnumbers ‘No’

December 6, 2015 By administrator

f566495f5e162a_566495f5e1661.thumb(Tert.am) Report

Based on the vote count in 75 polling stations, the positive votes have a considerable advantage. According to CEC Secretary Armen Smbatyan, 18,006 individuals or 76.94% of the registered voters voted in support of the reforms; the number of those voting “No” is 4,797 (20.5%). Smbatyan also elaborated on the available voting outcomes in Yerevan and the regions. In five polling stations of the capital, 2,251 individuals voted “for” and some 601 – “against” the proposed amendments. In one polling station of the region of Ararat, 349 voted “in favor” and 39 “against” the constitutional changes. The vote count in 14 polling stations of Armavir revealed that 4,645 voters supported the reforms; only 1,268 voted “against”. In the region of Gegharkunik, a total of 2,566 voters voted “Yes” and another 444 – “No” in five polling station. In nine polling stations of Lori, 2,212 individuals voted in favor of the bill, with only 466 voting “against”. There were 1,024 ballot-papers with “Yes” and only 219 with “No” in seven polling stations of Kotayk. In 10 polling stations of Shirak, the negative and positive votes’ number was respectively 1,024 and 219. As for the region of Syunik, the vote count in nine polling stations revealed 478 positive votes against 58 negative ones. In six polling stations of Vayots Dzor, the new constitution received support by 1,746 voters; only 214 voted against. In three polling stations of Tavush, 830 voted “Yes” and another 583 – “No”.

________________________________________________________________________________

23։53

The vote count in 46 polling stations reveals that 8,539 voters (77.13%) cast ballots in favor and another 2,226 (20.11%) – against the proposed bill.

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Armenia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has published the preliminary outcomes of the Sunday constitutional referendum.
The results are being updated online.

 

As of 11:34pm Yerevan time, the ballot-papers in 24 polling stations were processed. The vote count revealed that 6,043 individuals (or 76.25% of the total number of voters) voted in favor of the proposed reforms; the negative votes’ number was 1,590 (20.76%) in the said electoral precincts.
In a preliminary report released after the end of the voting, the CEC said that a total of 1,296,368 Armenian citizens (or 50.51% of registered voters) headed to the polls.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Armenia, Constitutional, referendum

Polls close in Armenia referendum on constitutional amendments

December 6, 2015 By administrator

201859Referendum on amendments to Armenia’s Constitution ended Saturday, December 6, at 8 pm sharp.

According to the latest reports, violations across Yerevan and the provinces were registered during the referendum, with the police launching an investigation into double voting cases, as well as attempts of hindering the work of journalists. 1997 polling stations opened across the republic at 8 am local time with 2 550 323 voters set to cast ballots. Report PanARMENIAN.Net

18 local and 6 international organizations monitored the referendum, including CIS observer mission, CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, foreign Central Election Committees, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR), representatives of foreign embassies accredited to Armenia.

The amended version of the Constitution would increase the role of the National Assembly, government and Prime Minister and essentially curtail the president’s powers. Other changes include elimination of majoritarian voting system and full transition to proportional system of forming a parliament.

The most controversial is the provision envisaging compulsory formation of majority of one of political parties in parliamentary elections and holding a second round in case no majority is formed. Represented in the National Assembly, Heritage, Rule of Law and Armenian National Congress parties are against the amendments, while the ruling Republican, as well as Armenian Revolutionary and Prosperous Armenia parties are in favor of changes. Some political powers, including MP Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Agreement, have declared their intention to not participate in the discussions and reforms.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: amendments, Armenia, Constitutional

Armenia: Rally against constitutional reform kicks off in Yerevan

October 30, 2015 By administrator

12200705_1082644375114056_80095789_nYEREVAN. – The rally of “No” front that is fighting against constitutional amendments has kicked off Yerevan’s Liberty Square. (photos)

Representatives of political parties, among them Heritage leader Raffi Hovannisian, member of Founding Parliament Zhirair Sefilyan, ANC group deputies, are in the square.

Several dozens of citizens have gathered in the square despite heavy rain, the Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent reported.

The front has been joined by the representatives of Heritage party, the People’s Party of Armenia, Armenian National Congress and Founding Parliament opposition group.

The civic group held the first rally in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city.

The referendum on constitutional amendments will be held on December 6.

 

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: BUENOS AIRES: Armenian Youth of Argentina Rally Against ‘Azeri Lies’, Constitutional, rally, reform, Yerevan

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