CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS EXPECTED TO IMPROVE SITUATION IN ARMENIA – MP

14:15 * 02.03.15

Head of the Heritage parliamentary group Ruben Hakobyan does not
object to constitutional amendments.

However, he stressed the authorities must sound convincing in their
wish to change the situation by means of constitutional amendments.

“If they are sincerely willing to change the government system,
they should have made relevant steps toward changes,” Mr Hakobyan
told Tert.am.

The first proposal concerned amendments to Armenia’s election law.

According to the second proposal, Armenia’s Parliament is to adopt
a bill that would envisage serious supervision mechanisms for the
Opposition.

“The third point is that if the authorities state they are not
‘anthropocentric’, it is logical that, after the referendum with a
reformed constitution, they could hold national elections, in 2016
for example.”

Mr Hakobyan calls for attention to one of the principles by the Venice
Commission – “documents that need to be approved unanimously.”

“Even most of the Constitutional Reforms Commission members,
when they refer to the Venice Commission’s positive opinion, they
should consider the fact that some norms and documents need to be
unanimously approved. The first of the documents is the Constitution,”
Mr Hakobyan said.

This implies that the greater part of society has to be unanimous on
particular documents.

“Regrettably, they are ignoring sociological surveys, to know if
society is unanimous. More than fifty percent must be unanimous.”

Hakobyan said he never saw a unanimous attitude to the basic document
ever since its adoption.

He said he doesn’t think that constitutional amendments are necessary
for the implementation of the necessary reforms.

“So if they are willing to change the provisions, they can do that
without amending the Constitution. To make us believe that they
sincerely want to change the Constitution to the benefit of our
country’s development, they should first of all follow the requirements
which are unrelated to the constitution but impede the country’s
development,” he said, adding that the authorities reject the reforms.

“They give no logical explanation as to why they avoid the
100% proportional representation system, being well-aware of the
irregularities committed during majority seat votes. We are not against
the constitutional reforms, but need to be sure that we really can
and want to change the situation with their help,” he added.