On November 3, NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan signed a decree on “appointing a day for the Constitutional Draft Referendum of the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh”. Based on the decree, December 10 was fixed as the day of the referendum. It was not an unexpected decision because there were rumors that the referendum would take place on that day. This day is significant for Karabagh’s history because on the same day in 1991, the people of Artsakh confirmed their right to live freely and independently through a referendum.
Let’s not forget to mention the fact that the Karabagh Parliament adopted the Constitution draft on November 2. As mentioned by the head of the working group of the constitution draft commission, NKR Prosecutor General, Armen Zalinyan, after the first reading, 127 recommendations were presented as a result of public discussion and mainly by NGOs and political parties.
During the second reading the head of the “ARF Movement 88” oppositional group, Armen Sargsyan, stated that the group has presented 50 recommendations, 32 out of which were accepted by the working group. “Even though 10 key recommendations were not passed, the group decided to vote for the draft anyway,” mentioned Sargsyan.
The member of the “Homeland” faction, NA Deputy-Chairperson, Rudik Hyusnunts also mentioned that most of their recommendations were approved. He mentioned the recommendations having to do with territorial integrity of Karabagh and national security. The head of the “Democracy” faction (the largest faction in NKR Parliament), Vahram Atanesyan expressed his positive opinion about the fact that the key document of the country is being adopted with the consensus of political parties. During the second reading, only one recommendation was heard by Deputy Maxim Mirzoyan. The Deputy suggested naming the country the Christian Republic of Karabagh. He suggested getting rid of the word Nagorno (“mountainous”) because the division of Karabagh into mountainous and plain parts was done on purpose. The NA promised to discuss this recommendation on November 4. It’s worth mentioning that the draft will be distributed to the people of Karabagh through brochures.