EVN Report just migrated to a new website at the start of the year and is still working out the kinks. The links to some of my previous articles may be broken, but you can still find them all through this post. These temporary links may need to be updated again in a few months but, in the meantime, here they are.
2018 (Failed) Electoral Reform Effort
I have been writing about elections, electoral reform, and constitutional reform in Armenia since 2018. Nikol Pashinyan had just been selected as Prime Minister and he said that the first thing he would do was to change the Electoral Code and then call a snap election. That summer, I attended the sessions of the Parliamentary Working Group on Electoral Reform and reported on their work in a series of three articles:
Part I: “Open” vs. “Closed” Party Candidate Lists
Part II: Thresholds, Alliances and Coalition Government
Part III: Quotas for Women and Ethnic Minorities
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/armenia-s-new-electoral-code-part-iii
The reform effort would eventually fail, and I explain why in this follow-up article:
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/armenia-and-artsakh-a-tale-of-two-electoral-reforms
Democratic Reform in Artsakh
That last article also discusses the electoral reform that was undertaken in Artsakh. Artsakh made major leaps in its democratic journey in 2019 and early 2020. First with a round of local elections in September 2019:
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/observing-stepanakert-s-city-council-election
And then on March 31, 2020, with the first joint presidential and parliamentary election held under its 2017 Constitution, covered in three parts:
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/artsakh-s-2020-election-the-essential-primer
Arayik Harutyunyan, from the Free Motherland Party, would go on to win the presidency in a run-off on April 14, 2020. There is more recent news on constitutional reform in Artsakh, but it deserves its own post.
A History of Armenian Politics
I eventually got around to enumerating all the different political parties (and there are a lot) that have played a role (sometimes just barely) in Armenia. It’s a long one:
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/a-history-of-armenian-political-party-splits-and-alliances
In 2018, there were 4 MPs from the Republican Party of Armenia that crossed the floor to be re-elected as part of Pashinyan’s My Step Alliance in December of that year. I profiled them here:
Here are the affiliations of Armenian political parties with larger European and international ideological networks:
A lot of parties were created immediately after the 2020 Artsakh War. Some went on to participate in the June 20, 2021 parliamentary election, but others still just exist on paper:
https://old.evnreport.com/magazine-issues/a-wave-of-new-political-parties-crashes-onto-the-scene
Lastly, EVN Report’s September 2021 magazine issue, entitled “Independence”, highlighted Armenia’s four national leaders since 1991. I didn’t author any of those articles, but I highly recommend them:
https://evnreport.com/magazine-issues-cat/issue-11/
Expert Commission on Constitutional Reform
In early 2020, an Expert Commission on Constitutional Reform was appointed:
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/the-armenian-government-s-plan-to-change-the-constitution
Its work was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Artsakh War, and the post-war political crisis. I provided an update on Constitution Day (July 5) in 2021:
https://old.evnreport.com/opinion/a-people-s-constitution-must-be-framed-by-the-people
That process has now been reset and I am preparing a new article with the latest developments.
Referendum on the Constitutional Court
The My Step Caucus in parliament did not wait for the results of the Expert Commission on Constitutional Reform to push forward one specific change immediately. They called a constitutional referendum on one clause that would effectively remove 7 of the 9 Constitutional Court judges:
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/referendum-called
That referendum would eventually get canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but my colleague, Lusine Sargsyan, did a great job of covering the topic:
https://evnreport.com/politics/understanding-armenia-s-constitutional-court/
https://evnreport.com/politics/what-happened-to-the-constitutional-referendum/ (By Ejmin Shahbazian and Maritsa Mandalyan)
https://evnreport.com/politics/resolving-the-constitutional-court-s-crisis-of-legitimacy/
https://evnreport.com/politics/the-ongoing-drama-of-the-constitutional-court/
Eventually, a watered-down amendment was made, which resulted in only 3 of the Constitutional Court judges being dismissed. I wrote about it for the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE):
The 2021 Early Parliamentary Election
After the loss of the Armenian side in the 2020 Artsakh War, Pashinyan rejected calls for his resignation and set the stage for an early election instead.
https://old.evnreport.com/elections/how-will-armenians-with-covid-19-vote-on-election-day
https://old.evnreport.com/elections/armenia-s-june-2021-parliamentary-election-the-essential-primer
https://old.evnreport.com/elections/translating-the-2021-election-results-into-seats
https://old.evnreport.com/elections/from-national-to-municipal-elections
What I was most worried about during that election was the possibility of a “false majority” outcome, which could have deepened the political crisis. I spoke about it on a panel moderated by the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR).
I also appeared on an Al Jazeera segment on the eve of the election.
2021 Municipal Elections
I had previously reported about the failures during the 2016 municipal elections in Gyumri and Vanadzor:
Fortunately, a lot of my recommendations from that article were implemented in a June 2020 round of reform:
The elections scheduled for fall 2021 were greatly expanded after an accelerated process of municipal amalgamation:
These expanded municipal elections were held on October 17, November 14, and December 5:
https://old.evnreport.com/elections/2021-municipal-elections-in-gyumri-and-other-cities
https://old.evnreport.com/elections/municipal-elections-bring-prospects-of-coalition-building
https://old.evnreport.com/elections/december-5-armenia-s-most-important-municipal-election
There have been very significant developments since December 5 as elections for mayor by the newly-elected city councils have been fraught with serious issues. Again, look for an article covering this soon.
The Law on Political Parties
I had the privilege of participating in the work of the Parliamentary Working Group on Electoral Reform, after it was re-assembled in September 2019. The first task they undertook was to make changes to the Law on Political Parties:
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/armenian-political-parties-where-should-the-money-come-from
2021 Changes to the Electoral Code
Crucially, the Electoral Code was also amended ahead of the June 2021 parliamentary election.
The Open List district seats were removed. This change applied immediately and was implemented for the June 2021 election.
The other changes would come into force at a later date, but were still passed ahead of the election taking place. The Venice Commission (VC) welcomed the proposed changes:
But then, the Government removed many of the provisions that the VC had welcomed, and passed a watered-down version. A side-by-side comparison of the differences between the submitted draft and the final version that passed has never been examined. If you think this is important, especially as a new round of changes to the Electoral Code is already underway, please contact me.
My Thoughts On Various Topics
Constitutional and electoral reform touches on a large number of different mechanics. I have had an opportunity to discuss some of them already:
Armenia’s Stable Majority Constitutional Provision
Internet Voting
Term Limits
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/armenia-s-moral-obligation-to-enact-term-limits
The potential impact of social media on elections
https://old.evnreport.com/raw-unfiltered/facebook-s-grip-on-armenia
The Accessibility of the Voter List
Allowing Dual Citizens to Run for Office
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/should-armenian-dual-citizens-be-banned-from-running-for-office
An Appointed vs. Elected President
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/direct-presidential-elections-undermine-stable-party-politics
The Ballot Initiative and Voter-Triggered Referendums
https://old.evnreport.com/politics/direct-democracy-can-citizens-in-armenia-force-a-referendum
But, by far, my most comprehensive analysis was on regional representation. I recommended a 3-district model for Armenia (but haven’t yet been able to convince the decision-makers):
Section 3 of that White Paper is the only source I’ve come across that explains how Armenia’s previous hybrid half-open-half-closed list system decides which candidates actually get a seat.
Other posts won’t be this long, but I had to lay out the body of work I have already put out there. I hope it serves as a handy reference for those looking to learn more about Constitutional and Electoral Reform in Armenia. If you find it helpful, please send me a thank you note. It’s been a rough few years, and I need some encouragement.