Few Armenians doubt that the Diaspora carries hefty punching weight within Armenia, but many Armenians doubt whether that influence justifies creating a second chamber for the Diaspora in the country's parliament.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Hranush Hakobian, on a recent visit to Diaspora communities in California, gave credit for the idea to President Serzh Sargsyan.
Sargsyan, notably, has kept his thoughts to himself. But his spokesperson, Armen Arzumanian, though, told PanArmenian.Net on February 1 that a bicameral parliament "is one of the possible suggestions [for constitutional reform], worth to be discussed on the same line with many others."
The nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun, an opposition party with strong Diaspora backing, also likes the idea.
But other Armenian politicians argue that there should be a limit to the Diaspora's influence.
“We stand for an honest and efficient implementation of the Diaspora in the development of Armenia and the Armenian world, rather than a direct effect on domestic legislative processes of the country,” opposition Heritage Party parliamentarian Larisa Alaverdian told ArmeniaNow.com.
The much larger Armenian National Congress, headed by ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosian, went a step further; it simply called the idea an "absurdity."
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