On November 18 and 19, during the sessions of Special Commission on constitutional reforms under the NKR President, the results of public discussions on preliminary version of new draft Constitution of Artsakh Republic were summed up.
When the new draft Constitution will be put to a Referendum? Exclusive Interview with Ashot Ghoulyan
STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 24, ARTSAKHPRESS: Chairman of the Special Commission on constitutional reforms under the NKR President and Speaker of the NKR NA Ashot Ghoulyan gave an exclusive interview to “Artsakhpress" over constitutional reforms.
The interview is fully presented below.
-Mr. Ghoulyan, was the Special Commission on constitutional reforms under the NKR President able to finish the stage of public consultations on the draft Constitution within the prescribed period?
- Special Commission held the meetings within the prescribed period, and now we are summarizing the results of the public consultations. However, again it is necessary to emphasize that the end of this stage of public consultations does not mean we have no opportunity to return to the working version of the draft Constitution. Conversely, after the official presentation, the commission has received and still receiving many suggestions.
The draft Constitution was submitted to the President on November 20. Most likely, the President will propose additional discussions and meetings, which will further to expand the series of social circles and groups involved in public consultations. We expect that from these discussions we will also have suggestions, which is very important for an accurate assessment of public attitudes towards the project.
- Interesting to know, according to You, how did people react to the constitutional reforms? What did the meetings with people show? What articles mainly attract people's attention?
- We can definitely say that the majority of our society is interested in the draft Constitution. As for attention to specific articles, they are more connected with some public groups’ preferences and inclinations. The majority of our society is interested in themes aimed at future of Artsakh, in particular at the jurisdictional boundaries of the state and public authorities, the country’s name, the availability of counterbalance between the branches of power, legal regulations for the transition period and so on. The received suggestions refer to all the chapters of the draft. In fact, we can say that all the articles have been thoroughly analyzed by public and political circles.
At this stage, the risks of mechanisms proposed by draft Constitution is no less important, which we must evaluate and drew necessary conclusions. The Commission will continue to collect ideas and suggestions that may be useful for the next phase of the draft discussion.
-Mr. Ghoulyan, as a result of public discussions on the draft Constitution how many proposals have been received generally?
The Commission on Constitutional Reforms has so far received more than 150 proposals, almost the half of which were made in form of oral questions during meetings. All suggestions and interesting ideas the committee will categorize, analyze and identify the acceptable options.
-What changes have been made as a result of editing the draft? Have been added or removed articles?
-At this moment we have no added articles, but we have some ideas for making changes in current articles, some of which have been registered. The work in this direction continues.
-The public is interested what times the new draft constitution will be put to a referendum. In this regard, can you mention the approximate date?
-As the President gave a task not to artificially accelerate the process of constitutional reforms, we can not mention specific date. In December, the draft Constitution will be sent to the Parliament. Parliament, in accordance with the regulations, can organize the discussions in several stages. In the first stage the discussion of the draft Constitution is interrupted so that deputies and fractions will be able to submit the proposals for the next consultations. I think, in January, 2017, we will know when the Constitutional referendum will be held.
Interview by Vehanush Hovsepyan
