Emil Danielyan writes for RFE/RL that the European Union and the United States have endorsed constitutional ammendments that will be put to a referendum in Armenia during November. They also urged the opposition to end it boycott of parliament and work with the government on constitutional reform.

“We welcome the Venice Commission’s approval of the new draft constitution because we believe that the existing draft embodies democratic freedoms, values, safeguards which would bring Armenia closer to the European Union and to Europe as a whole,” British Ambassador to Armenia Thorda Abbott-Watt said, speaking on behalf of the EU.

“The United States welcomes the agreement by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe to the amendments to the constitution and looks forward to their adoption at the November national referendum,” said Anthony Godfrey, the U.S. charge d’affaires in Yerevan.

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“We hope that the government takes the appropriate steps to open the discussion to the public and gain the consensus necessary to ultimately pass a referendum,” Godfrey said.

Not everyone is happy, howver. According to Danielyan, the opposition Justice bloc objects to an ammendment allowing the President to dissolve parliament if it twice rejects his nominee for Prime Minister. Media bodies and the Human Rights Ombudsperson also object to continuing presidential control over state bodies regulating TV and radio broadcasting in Armenia.

While not objecting to more changes in the constitutional draft, the Western diplomats made it clear that the opposition too must be ready for concessions. “Nobody is going to get everything they want out of this piece of legislation,” said Abbott-Watt.

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“There aren’t any guarantees that there won’t be election frauds and human rights violations in the future,” admitted Godfrey. Nonetheless, Armenia does need to “make its rules of the game better,” the U.S. diplomat added.

Abbott-Watt, for her part, argued that Armenians themselves should make sure that their rulers respect the country’s constitution and laws. “This is your country, it is your constitution,” she said. “You have to protest when you see violations of the law. This is your responsibility.

Interestingly, activists such as Eleonora Manandyan, head of the New Armenia organization, is starting to concentrate on the constitutional ammendments. When I met her on Monday she told me that she wanted to raise awareness of the need for information and discussion. She wasn’t going to urge people to vote for or against the changes. She simply wants that people are able to make an informed choice and in particular, are allowed to cast their vote freely.

If that’s the case, and whatever the outcome of the referendum, I for one am more than happy. The full news item can be read online here.