Home > 1.2 Equal suffrage > ARMENIA - Joint Opinion on the Draft Constituional Law on Political Parties
 
 
 
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Paragraph 18
 

Article 2 of the draft law defines political parties. It refers to a union of citizens. Article 12.2 of the draft law complements this provision, stating that only citizens of Armenia may join a political party, while other persons with the right to suffrage – a term that is not defined - are allowed to become members with limited capacities. The Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR acknowledge that Article 28 of the Constitution provides for the same link between citizenship and party membership. Consideration may be given, however, to rethinking this approach, as also non-citizens may have an interest in participating in the political life of a country, especially if they have lived there for some time. Thus, the Guidelines11, referring to the Council of Europe Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at the Local Level, state that a “[g]eneral exclusion of foreign citizens and stateless persons from membership in political parties is not justified. Foreign citizens and stateless persons should to some extent be permitted to participate in the political life of their country of residence, at least as far as they can take part in the elections. At the very least, the country of residence should make membership in political parties possible for these persons”.