YEREVAN. – In 2017, the Yezidi, Russian, Assyrian, and Kurdish communities of Armenia may receive parliamentary seats in the National Assembly (NA).

The new draft Electoral Code proposes to allocate four NA seats to the country’s national minorities that have passed the threshold with a special coefficient, and based on the population of the given national minority.

The Census and Demography Division at the National Statistical Service of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that, according to the census which was conducted in October 2011, the Yezidi, Russian, Assyrian, and Kurdish communities are the largest national minorities in the country.

The draft Electoral Code was approved at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, and it is expected to be submitted to parliament on March 9 or 10.

Pursuant to it, parliamentary elections will be single and nationwide in Armenia, and they will be conducted solely with proportional representation—i.e. political party lists.