It is the responsibility and the obligation of every citizen to
protect the Constitution

Stepan Sargsyan
02-06-2007 11:36:56 – KarabakhOpen

After reading the response of the NKR CEC chair Sergey Nassibyan
regarding Bako Sahakyan’s residency status, one finds himself confused
as to how to react: disbelief, shame and embarrassment for one’s
government or simply amusement? It’s still unclear how this situation
will be resolved, or whether anyone (be it a private citizen, a
journalist or law-enforcement agencies) will give continuation to the
situation with Bako Sahakyan’s residency status. What is clear,
though, is that the registration of Bako Sahakyan’s candidacy creates
legal questions, if not at the level of the CEC, then definitely at
the level of the municipal police. Judging from the CEC chair’s
explanation, the logical continuation would be the opening of an
investigation to get to the bottom of this. Obviously, all questions
have not been answered.

This entire affair is very humorous because of the apparent
incompetency of its very participants and initiators. Preoccupied with
the planning of the bigger strategy of presidential elections, the
members of the civil initiative group who proposed the candidacy of
Bako Sahakyan simply glossed over the small detail related to the
candidate’s ability to satisfy basic eligibility requirements. For
such a flap (lack of attention to detail) self-respecting directors
fire the responsible employee from the company. And thanks to another
example of a lack of attention to detail (with a much more serious
consequence), the municipal police issued a certification confirming
the candidate’s residency in Stepanakert for the last 10 years. This
is called an example of a lack of attention to detail, because we hope
that government bodies, whether local or state level, would not issue
a false document intentionally.

Yet the fun part does not end here. In his attempt to justify the
candidate’s registration, the CEC chairman inadvertently implicates
another government body in wrongdoing and, in addition, justifies the
deviation from the Constitution and its requirements on the basis of a
technicality. Isn’t this hilarious?

Let’s say it was the mistake of the police department, which
mistakenly issued a certification attesting to his residency
status. But CEC already knows that the candidate did not reside in NKR
for the past ten years. What are they going to do, just state that
they have an invalid piece of paper that states otherwise and
continue?

However, one grave issue here is the CEC chair’s lack of understanding
regarding the responsibility of the citizens when it comes to
protecting the Constitution. It is the responsibility and the
obligation of every citizen to protect the Constitution, irrespective
of their post (governmental or private), wealth and physical
ability. Constitution declares everyone equal. Therefore, it is
unnecessary to scold an NGO for doing its job, which is to check up on
a government body to ensure they operate properly and protect the
Constitution. That’s what checks and balances/