Armenia
The National Assembly adopted amendments to the Constitution on 27 September 2005, without the participation of two opposition parties, the Justice Bloc and the National Unity Party. The aim of the amendments is to ensure greater separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches, including by limiting presidential powers and giving more powers to the Assembly. While the European Union, the Council of Europe and the Government of the United States hailed the constitutional amendments as a first step towards reform in Armenia, some opposition parties called for a boycott of the planned constitutional referendum, insisting that what was needed was not constitutional change, but regime change.

The referendum held on 27 November 2005 needed to be endorsed by a simple majority, with a minimum turnout of one third. According to the Central Election Commission, 65 per cent of Armenia's 2.3 million registered voters turned out for the poll, of whom 93 per cent supported the constitutional amendments, though observers from the Council of Europe questioned the accuracy of the high turnout figures.

Bangladesh
Following constitutional amendments in 2004, the statutory number of members of parliament was increased from 300 to 345, with the addition of 45 seats reserved for women. Under the amendments, which will be valid for 10 years, the seats are allocated in proportion to each party's representation in parliament. On 6 September 2005, 36 women parliamentarians were duly nominated by political parties, based on their results at the 2001 election. The Awami League, for which nine seats were reserved, did not put forward any candidates, insisting that new women parliamentarians should be directly elected. The nine remaining seats were therefore attributed to nominees of other parties, including the ruling Bangladesh National Party, on 2 October 2005.

Iraq
On 15 October 2005, more than 63 per cent of some 15.5 million registered voters participated in a referendum on the draft Constitution. According to Article 61 C of the provisional Constitution, the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), the new Constitution needed to be ratified by a majority of the voters in Iraq, and it would pass only if two thirds of the voters in three or more governorates did not reject it. The draft was approved by 78.59 per cent of voters, and it passed in 15 of 18 governorates. It was rejected in two governorates by a majority of two thirds, while in Ninewa governorate, 44.92% voted in favour and 55.08% voted against. The Constitution having thus been approved, elections were scheduled for a permanent parliament, to be known as the Council of Representatives of Iraq, for 15 December 2005.

The Council of Representatives will consist of 275 members, of whom 25 per cent must be women. Of the 275 seats, 230 are allocated to the 18 governorates based on the number of voters registered in each at the parliamentary elections held for the Transitional National Assembly on 30 January 2005^*. Governorate seats will be filled by a proportional representation system. The remaining 45 seats will be allocated in two phases. Firstly, they will be distributed to political groups which did not win any seats in governorates, but which reached a certain threshold (compensatory seats); and secondly, to other entities which won governorate seats and surpassed a certain threshold nationwide (national seats).

Italy
A constitutional reform bill was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on 20 October and by the Senate on 16 November 2005. The so-called Devolution Bill, promoted by the pro-autonomy Northern League party, a member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's coalition Government, strengthens the powers of the Prime Minister and gives full autonomy to the country's 20 regions over health, schooling and local policing, starting from 2012. The reforms still need to be ratified in a referendum.

If the reform is approved by the referendum, the Prime Minister will no longer be appointed by the State President, but will be directly elected by citizens, and will no longer require a vote of confidence from the parliament. He or she will also be able to appoint and dismiss ministers and dissolve parliament. The new Constitution will also transform the Senate into a body representing the regions, a Senato federale or Federal Senate, which will not have the right to pass a vote of noconfidence against Prime Minister. The purview of the new Senate will be limited to matters of "concurrent" legislation which are not exclusively pertinent to either the central State or the regions.

The current Italian Constitution, promulgated in 1948, was designed to prevent the emergence of another dictatorship following the fascist era. It limits the powers of the Prime Minister, which has led to short-lived administrations: only five governments have completed the full five-year term since World War II.

Kenya
On 21 November 2005, 57 per cent of Kenyan voters who took part in a referendum rejected a proposed new Constitution that in the eyes of the opposition would have insufficiently restricted the sweeping powers held by the executive branch (see issue No.19, November 2005). Before the referendum, seven of the 28 cabinet ministers rejected the draft and vowed to resign if the new Constitution was adopted. They led the “No” campaign, together with the official opposition party, the Kenya African National Union (KANU), using an orange as their symbol. President Mwai Kibaki led the "Yes" campaign under the symbol of a banana, with the intention of enacting the new Constitution by 12 December 2005, the country's Independence Day. The campaigning, while colourful and animated, was also violent, with seven deaths recorded in clashes.

Following the rejection of the new Constitution, President Kibaki dismissed his entire Cabinet on 23 November. The next day, he suspended the reopening of parliament, which had been scheduled for 29 November 2005. Parliament is now scheduled to re-open in March 2006. On 9 December 2005, a new Cabinet was sworn in, although three ministers and 13 deputies, including two of the President's key allies, refused to take up their posts.

Sudan
Following the ratification of the new power-sharing Constitution by the National Assembly on 6 July 2005 (see issue No.19, November 2005), a new bicameral parliament, composed of the National Assembly and the Council of States, was established in the Sudan on 31 August 2005. The current legislature will run for five years of the six-year interim period, until general elections are held.

The National Assembly consists of 450 appointed members: 234 members (52 per cent) from the National Congress Party (NCP), 126 members (28 per cent) from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), 63 members (14 per cent) from northern opposition parties, and 27 members (6 per cent) from other southern groups. Of the total, 60 seats (13 per cent) are reserved for women. The 50-member Council is composed of two representatives from each of the 25 states, elected indirectly, by the state legislatures. In addition, there are two observers from Abyei Area Council who do not have voting rights.

Uganda
On 23 November 2005, President Yoweri Museveni signed three laws: the Political Parties and Organisations Act 2005, the Presidential Elections (amendment) Act 2005 and the Parliamentary Elections (amendment) Act 2005. They paved the way for the Electoral Commission to fix the polling day for the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections to be held between 12 February and 12 March 2006. The 2006 polls will be the first to be contested by opposition parties in almost two decades. The multiparty system was reintroduced following a referendum in July 2005 (see issue No.19, November 2005), which lifted the restriction on political parties introduced by Mr. Museveni in 1986.

United Arab Emirates
On 1 December 2005, President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed announced an election for half of the Federal National Council, without specifying the date of the ballot. Until now, all 40 members of the unicameral parliament formed in 1972 have been appointed by the rulers of the United Arab Emirates' constituent states. The introduction of democratic elections in the Middle East has been urged by the United States, while the 22 members of the Arab League have insisted such change should not be imposed by outside pressure.