"Haylur". Constitutional Court Judges Have Two Options: Under What Conditions Will the Referendum Not Take Place?

"Haylur" writes: The National Assembly yesterday approved the draft decision to put constitutional amendments to a referendum with 88 votes in favor, 15 against, and 0 abstentions.

As is known, under the proposed amendments, lawmakers suggest terminating the terms of office of the President and members of the Constitutional Court elected until April 9, 2018. So, what can be expected following yesterday's decision?

This decision must now follow the appropriate processes, including the approval by the President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced from the podium of the National Assembly that he had reached an agreement with the President in their last meeting and that the President agreed to resolve the issue through a referendum.

However, interesting nuances are hidden here. Nonetheless, within the corridors of power, it is not excluded that the referendum may not take place at all, and this would be the case if CC judges decide to take the option for early retirement.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hinted at this from the National Assembly podium yesterday, advising them to consider this step.

As is known, the law allowing CC judges to voluntarily retire early is in effect until the end of this month. This means that CC judges still have a long time to decide whether they want to take early retirement.

With yesterday's initiative, the authorities made it clear that in any case, in the event of the acceptance of the referendum, they would be removed from office. Therefore, the CC judges have two options: either submit their resignation and take the guaranteed early pension or be dismissed through constitutional amendments.

This is, of course, one option, while another would be that the referendum does indeed take place. In that case, clear deadlines are outlined, and, effectively, the constitutional amendment referendum will occur in May, preceded by a campaign for "yes" and "no" votes.

According to the law on referendums, the campaign will last for 60 days. Subsequently, preliminary estimates suggest that the government will need around 650,000 "yes" votes.

For more details, refer to today's issue of the newspaper.