'We would be happy to hear also opposition colleagues' - ruling party MP on draft constitutional amendments  

A senior lawmaker from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's Civil Contract party on Monday expressed regret that the proposed reforms to the Constitution of Armenia passed the parliament's first reading in the absence of opposition representatives.

Speaking to reporters after the voting, the head of the ruling My Step faction in parliament, Lilit Makunts, said they would be happy indeed to hear also colleagues from the Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia parties.

Asked to comment on the Venice Commission's regret that their proposals had not been taken into consideration, Makunts referred to the tentative wording of the recently released advisory document.  

"The Venice Commission, giving all in all a positive evaluation to the approach that solutions are necessary based on tabled proposals, believes that the option providing for a transitional period should have been taken into account. And they have expressed regret that we did not incorporate the transitional period into the draft. But we did not do that because the Venice Commission's opinion is advisory in essence and not legally binding, which is practically stated also in the draft. It is likewise stated that the Armenian authorities must make decisions also on the duration of the transitional period, evaluating the situation," she said.

Addressing the concerns over the reported unconstitutionality of the bill, Makunts reaffirmed their political team's priority focus on bringing the actions taken in line with the Constitution and laws of Armenia.

"The Republic of Armenia has announced the launch of justice and legal reforms, as well as the process of bringing the model of the Constitutional Court in line with the constitution model adopted in 2015," she added.