request of the majority of the members of the General Assembly. But before convoking such an extraordinary sitting the reasons for it should be explained to the Sublime Porte and its consent obtained.
The Election of Ecclesiastical Deputies
Article 63.—All the ecclesiastics in Constantinople, at the invitation of the Patriarch, come together in a certain place, and by secret voting and by the majority of votes elect the ecclesiastical members of the National General Assembly from bishops, vardapets, and priests: but the candidates should not be holding any office in the provinces. They should be at least thirty years of age, ordained at least five years ago and under no accusation.
Article 64.—The office of the ecclesiastical deputies lasts ten years, and once in two years the fifth part of them is changed. This fifth part is changed by lot during the first eight years. All those who have ceased to be members either by lot or at the end of the ten years may be re-elected immediately.
The Election of Lay [Deputies—Qualifications for Candidates and Election
Article 65.—The national tax and personal merits are considered the basis of the right of being electors.
In order to have the right of an elector a person should pay annually at least seventy-five piasters as national tax.
Those whose personal merits entitle them to be electors are persons employed in Government bureaux and in other Government offices, physicians with diplomas, authors of useful books, school teachers, persons who have rendered some valuable service to the nation.
Article 66.—Persons who are twenty-five years of age are entitled to be electors, provided they be Ottoman subjects.
Article 67.—The following are deprived of their right:—
| I. | Those convicted of a crime, who, according to the penal laws of the country, are considered as morally dead. |
| II. | Persons who have been condemned by some National Council for fraud in the administration of national affairs and who have been deprived by a decision of one of these Councils of their right to hold any national office. |
| III. | Those who are undergoing a corrective punishment by the Courts of the Government and whose term is not yet finished. |
| IV. | The insane whose complete recovery is not legally confirmed. |
Article 68.—Candidates are all those members of the nation who have attained their thirtieth year, are Ottoman subjects acquainted with the laws of the country and with national affairs, and who are not deprived of their right according to the 67th Article of the Constitution.
But at least seven of the eighty deputies to be elected by the different quarters in Constantinople should be persons holding a certain rank.
