"GOVERNMENT SYSTEM NO LONGER UNICENTRAL AS RESULT OF CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENTS," POLITICAL SCIENTIST VARDAN POGHOSIAN SAYS

YEREVAN, JULY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. Political scientist Vardan Poghosian, the
Chairman of the Zhoghovrdavarutiun (Democracy) organization, made a
statement at the July 4 press conference dedicated to Constitution Day:
"The Constitution adopted in 1995 is, unfortunately, still considered
to be a non-legitimate document: it was formally meeting all the
necessary democratic standards, but in terms of the content, the only
hero of the Constitution was the president of the country."

He gave a positive mark to the constitutional amendments made in
November 2005. According to him, the most important thing has changed:
the government system is no longer unicentral. "The division principle
of the authorities has fully reached the democratic standards at least
in respect of the level of Constitution, a balanced government system
has been created between different bodies of authorities," V. Poghosian
mentioned.

In his opinion, "the minimal conditions of democracy are provided and
much depends on the political culture of parties and the people."