Thursday, August 27 2015 04:48

  "We are unfairly blamed for overtures with European organizations. Taking into account the authority of the Venice Commission, we will simply follow its recommendations as much as they will meet our national interests and traditions,"  Artak Zakaryan, an MP from the Republican Party of Armenia, told reporters on August 26. 

"The opinion of our colleagues in the Eurasian Customs Union is also important to us. However, in this issue we rely on the opinion of the Venice Commission," Zakaryan said. The Republican MP recalled that political debates will be held and it is early to speak of the recommendations and proposals that will be included into the final text of the new Constitution. "I can say so sure that every views for ands against the reform must be politically substantiated. It must not be caprices of the opposition forces," Zakaryan said.

To recall, a member of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), Christoph Grabenwarter told a news conference in Yerevan on August 25, that according to European standards, same-sex marriages in the new Constitution of Armenia should be authorized. According to him, the Venice Commission in its proposals noted that the 34th and the 15th paragraph of the draft Constitution should not be construed as a ban on same- sex marriages. "It was a reminder that, according to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, same-sex marriages should be allowed", - he said. At the same time, Grabenwarter noted that the proposal is not an infringement of the right to polygamy, a traditional family.

To recall that the Constitutional Reform Commission approved the draft of the constitutional reforms on August 20 with attached justifications and presented to the President of Armenia. Serzh Sargsyan on August 21 sent the draft reform to the Parliament.  Starting from the next week, the President plans to hold meetings with the representatives of the political forces of the country on approaches enshrined in the draft constitutional changes.