A special session of the National Assembly of Armenia is being convened today.

The ruling "Civil Contract" faction has proposed draft amendments to the Electoral Code just two months before the parliamentary elections. This is the first time such a step has been taken, and it contradicts the recommendations of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.

According to the proposed amendment, "The name of the bloc of parties cannot contain personal names, names of state and local self-government bodies or similar names and (or) their variations to the point of confusing them."

Observers note that this initiative is clearly directed against businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, the owner of the Tashir Group of companies, whose name and surname are on the name of the electoral bloc created by his Strong Armenia party.