Conducting the constitutional reforms by any means is not an overarching goal for the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Eduard Sharmazanov, RPA Spokesman, Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, said following the July 16 meeting of the RPA Council. "This is not the biggest priority on the RPA political agenda. We have more important problems. For instance, we should improve the socio-economic situation in the country, ensure the security, etc.," said the Vice Speaker, stressing that the fate of the constitutional reforms will be decided by people at a referendum.
As regards the provision about the second round of parliamentary elections, which has caused a wide public response, Sharmazanov explained, "The reformed Constitution does not rule out formation of a coalition government. If any political forces gain the second, third or fourth place in the parliamentary elections, they can form a coalition with the forces gaining the first and second places."
He said that those elected in the first round will not lose their mandates. "The 101 mandates distributed in the first round will remain regardless of the second round results," he said. Only the political forces gaining the first and second places in the first round will take part in the second round. The Election Code will decide how many mandates will be distributed in the second round. "It is a very democratic system resembling the systems in San Marino and Italy," he concluded.