Armenian parliament debates ban on personal names in alliance titles

The Armenian National Assembly convened an extraordinary session on Tuesday to discuss a legislative proposal introduced by lawmakers from the ruling Civil Contract party.

The parliamentary council approved the session under an expedited 24-hour procedure, with the agenda set by the bill sponsors, Arusyak Julhakyan, Alkhas Ghazaryan and Artur Hovhannisyan.

The proposed amendments to the Electoral Code seek to prohibit political party alliances from incorporating personal names into their titles. The legislation would further restrict the use of references to state or local self-government bodies, as well as names that could be misleadingly similar to them. In addition, alliance names could not include offensive or defamatory language.

The authors say the changes are intended to improve internal consistency within the Electoral Code, enhance legal clarity and ensure alignment among existing regulations.