STEPS THAT THREATEN SECURITY OF ARMENIA

Lragir.am
20 Oct 06

Following the developments of the past few weeks connected with
the Armenian government, one wonders what Tigran Torosyan, who is
part of the government, did to this government that they tenaciously
humiliate him. Quite unlikely to defend Tigran Torosyan, especially
that he surely has sufficient mental potential, as well as physical
potential considering his immense political party, to defend himself,
I am nevertheless worried about the post of the speaker of the National
Assembly, which has not been neglected to this degree over the past
15 years than over the past 15 or may be a few more days.

When Tigran Torosyan was not included in the orbit of Jacques Chirac’s
visit to Armenia, it seemed that they simply did not want to overload
the speaker of the National Assembly with international policies,
because there were a number of other internal problems in the National
Assembly, which require urgent solution. But when the Attorney General
arrested the Member of Parliament and despite the provision of the
Constitution, forgot to inform Tigran Torosyan, people started doubting
that they had forgotten about the speaker of the National Assembly
or they remembered, therefore they neglected. Certainly, this is not
the first time when the shortcoming of the Attorney General breaks
the Constitution of Armenia. The Constitution has been violated on
a higher level, and this is perceived as normal in the government
of Armenia. However, this violation stands out because if all the
former violations neglected the public and the rules of coexistence,
this particular violation neglected an entire government institution,
which has been called the National Assembly since 1995.

In fact, it is doubtful that it was done on purpose. Why should the
Attorney General, who is appointed by the head of state, neglect Tigran
Torosyan? Would the president forgive him, who rigorously prevents
every breaking of the Constitution? The answers to this questions
had not formed fully in the logic of the processes underway, when
another incident occurred. This time the judicial system neglected
the speaker of the National Assembly Tigran Torosyan. And strange
though it may seem, the head of this system is again appointed by
the president of the Republic. In this case, it is already impossible
not to consider an intended action along with misunderstanding. And
the first question is whether by neglecting publicly the president
humilates the deputy leader of the Republican Party Tigran Torosyan
or the post of the speaker of the National Assembly. For the society,
the second is worrying because for the society the normal functioning
of the government in compliance with the law is prior to all. And
when the second post of the government, the legislative body, is
neglected publicly, it means the function of the neglecting body
is not fulfilled or is not fulfilled by the one who is entitled to
it, but someone else. This makes think about the problem of shade
governance, which threatens the national security when the top
government post is simply paralyzed and, despite the Constitution,
pushed out of the government system. The second question is why,
and the answer to this question can be found in the context of the
president – Republican Party relations. But if Robert Kocharyan and
the Republicans cannot build their relations in a way as not to harm
the government and the constitutional order, they had better set up
relations with the system of government rather than each other.

HAKOB BADALYAN