FOR REPUBLICAN MAJORITY IT IS UNFAVORABLE TO LISTEN TO RAFIK PETROSYAN
Lragir, Armenia
Nov 28 2006
Recently the Constitutional Court of Armenia has declared some
government decisions and provisions of some laws unconstitutional.
Apparently, the system of public administration, which drafts and
implements laws, is not aware of the Constitution of Armenia. The
majority of this system are Republicans, therefore we asked Republican
Member of Parliament Rafik Petrosyan, lawyer, chair of the State and
Legal Committee, if the public men in charge of public administration
do not know the Constitution.
"Making laws is work, and the one who works may make mistakes.
Similarly, the National Assembly makes mistakes in adopting the laws
due to unawareness or political expediency. The Constitutional Court
was set up, and taxpayers pay their salary, to make the laws comply
with the Constitution," Rafik Petrosyan says.
With deep respect for the opinion of the parliamentarian lawyer,
we nevertheless dared to ask why in that case the lawyers of the
government and the National Assembly get salaries from the taxes that
people pay.
"In the National Assembly, the members of parliament allegedly,
as well as the government, have the right for legislative action.
Usually, the members of parliament are not professional lawyers,
they do not hire assistants to help them through drafting laws, and
sometimes they offer things to the committees that either you have to
draft it anew or you have to throw it away. The government presents 70
percent of bills. They also make mistakes, the National Assembly is a
political body, and sometimes it is not taken into account whether it
is right or wrong, if the majority decides that it should be adopted,
it is adopted," Rafik Petrosyan says.
It means that the lawyers hired at the National Assembly, the
government agencies, the ministries are absolutely redundant, if in
adopting laws the Republican majority places the political aspect
superior to the legal aspect.
"There are lawyers, and I am one of them. When, for instance, the
law on expropriation was adopted, I warned for several times at
the rostrum that they will go to the Constitutional Court and two
provisions will be defined as unconstitutional," Rafik Petrosyan says.
And why does the majority refuse to listen to Republican Rafik
Petrosyan? Petrosyan says they need to do so. In other words, the
majority apparently needs to overlook the Constitution. "No, they
think they are right. In most cases they listen, in 80 percent of
cases. In this particular case, they did not listen because it is
not favorable," Republican Rafik Petrosyan confesses.