Special commission to work out Karabakh constitution

The Constitutional Commission headed by the president of Nagorny Karabakh was founded in the republic in 1996. It was to work out and put to a national vote the text of the republican constitution. The first meeting of the commission was held on June 3, 2004. A working group to elaborate conceptual approaches was formed at the meeting. Armen Zalinian, a presidential adviser, became head of the group.

After the meeting of the Constitutional Commission, Armen Zalinian said that because of the known developments of 1999-2000 (an attempt on the life of the president of the republic, change of the government, and trial against the ex-minister of defense), the commission had been not able to start working. "Besides, the process of negotiations on the Karabakh problem has continued for all these years. But we can't seat twiddling our thumbs and wait until the decision is made. We have a right to make a decision as we live in the state that has gained independence," Mr Zalinian said.

The next meeting of the commission is set for June 20. The concept and structure of the constitution is to be presented at the meeting. "The constitutional regime will be based on the system that has developed and justified itself in our country in the last ten years. The matter concerns the presidential system of government," the presidential adviser noted.