In 2005, after the Constitutional referendum and adoption of the new Constitution, the constitutional clause prohibiting dual citizenship was taken out. The rights and responsibilities concerning dual citizenship are to be regulated by law.
These days there are discussions concerning these clauses and possible recommendations. The people participating in these discussions are mainly concerned about the fact that after adopting these kinds of clauses, people living in other countries may obtain Armenian citizenship as well and take part in elections. Before the referendum, the Republican party and ARF representatives said that this clause would be symbolic, and if people with dual citizenship are allowed to participate in elections, that will be regulated by the law so as to make sure that they have been living in Armenia during the last “X” years, which will be defined by the law as well.
This is impossible because the 50th article of the RA Constitution states that “the RA president is to be elected by citizens of Armenia for five years”. Any law that contradicts the Constitution is considered invalid. It seems that these people either don’t understand the real meaning of dual citizenship or generally have other purposes because no one has given concrete answers to questions; no one has answered what we get out of this law. The ARF members were the only ones, who said that Armenia should be declared as the homeland of all Armenians of the world, which doesn’t appear to be a good answer to the mentioned question. ARF representatives say that after the adoption of this law we can solve national problems, but they don’t mention exactly what problems. The president has founded a group to work on the dual citizenship issue and it is headed by deputy Justice minister Gevorg Malkhasyan. Several days ago, he presented the draft of the government program on dual citizenship during a conference dedicated to dual citizenship held at the business center of the American University of Armenia. Based on this program, we may assume that this clause is not symbolic at all. “When someone gets citizenship of another country, he/she gets certain rights as well, i.e. anyone who comes to Armenia from abroad and obtains Armenian citizenship will have the same rights as local Armenians”, said G. Malkhasyan. What does he mean when he says that people with dual citizenship will have the same rights as local Armenians? Does this mean that those people will have the same rights as we have now? According to G. Malkhasyan, they have brushed up on Armenian legislation and say that these rights are the rights belonging to Armenian citizens and not foreigners. “Foreigners will be given those rights only after obtaining Armenian citizenship and if they have dual citizenship”, explained Mr. Malkhasyan. In other words, based on our understanding, people with dual citizenship will be able to found parties in Armenia, provide financial aid and take part in elections. At the same time, people of Armenian origin will easily get dual citizenship. Furthermore, people from countries that have intimate ties with Armenia will also get citizenship easily. Mr. Malkhasyan says that we should respect the rights of others, treat them well and respect their rights, knowing that they are also citizens of other countries. What is the main goal of dual citizenship? In regard to this, Mr. Malkhasyan said, “Integration of Armenians and protecting our nationality”. He didn’t go any further in detail. “Dual citizenship will not help us solve the problems of Diaspora Armenians. I recommend adopting a law stating that that Armenia is the homeland of all Armenians regardless of where they live, their language and religion” said the deputy Justice minister. According to him, we should give anyone wishing to get Armenian citizenship an opportunity to come to Armenia and have a document for that. “If we do that for free it will be better because the people who receive gifts feel a sense of responsibility towards the one giving the present”, said G. Malkhasyan. During this discussion, head of the ARF faction, Hrayr Karapetyan spoke about the draft proposed by their party. He says that dual citizenship is important for Armenia’s national strategy. “If done the right way, dual citizenship may be a very good tool for solving many problems concerning Armenians”, assured H. Karapetyan. According to the draft proposed by the ARF, the citizens who have lived in Armenia for some period or visited Armenia very often will be given an opportunity to obtain Armenian citizenship; as for military service, they will serve in the country of their permanent residence. “Citizens of Armenia who have served in another country will not be held responsible for serving here besides critical cases”, said H. Karapetyan. He said that the parliament will hold hearings on dual citizenship on June 23.