The constitutional referendum of Nagorno Karabagh will take place on December 10. According to Karabagh authorities, the brochures of the Constitution draft have been distributed to the residencies of all regions of Karabagh. Our sources in the Hakert, Drmbon, Chldran villages of the Martakert region and the Jivan village of the Martuni region say that the brochures have made it to the villagers and it’s even expected to organize discussions with the villagers, however, based on our data, more than 200 people living in the village of Hovtashen in the Martuni region still haven’t received the brochures.
On November 20, during the session of the central electoral commission of the Karabagh referendum, the sample ballot was discussed and confirmed. The temporary press center for the central electoral commission was created and head of the press department of the Nagorno Karabagh National Assembly Michael Hajyan was appointed as head of the center. The political parties of the Karabagh National Assembly have already started spreading the word about the Constitution and they foresee organizing meetings with work staffs, in institutions and universities. The “Free Homeland” party has already held a meeting in the Kert village of the Martuni region of Karabagh. So, it appears that the Karabagh political parties are in favor of the approval of the Constitution, however there are questions, which aren’t answered in the draft. Head of the constant committee on defense, security and legal issues of the Karabagh National Assembly Rudolph Martirosyan says that there are a lot of things that the Armenian and Karabagh Constitutions have in common. Karabagh is also making the transition to a semi-presidential model and the parliament is getting more power. The system of appointing the prime minister and the general prosecutor is the same. After the referendum, the house of Supervisors of the Karabagh National Assembly will become an independent body as in Armenia. There are some peculiarities. For example, there won’t be a Constitutional Court in Karabagh; instead there will be a Constitution House part of the Supreme Court and any citizen can apply to that court. The President of Karabagh will have the right to take legislative initiatives. Only 23-year olds can become deputies in Karabagh. The mechanisms for forming the government and the courts are different, as well as the structure of the Constitution and the chapter on human rights. A special law will regulate Karabagh citizenship and the Constitution doesn’t prohibit dual citizenship.