Armenia needs political diversity – Hakob Avetisyan

13:58 * 15.03.15

Hakob Avetikyan, Editor of the Azg (Nation) daily, shared his opinion
of constitutional reforms in an interview with Tert.am.

As a member of a traditional Armenian political party, he is not for
party merger. According to him, it is an artificial process.

Mr Avetikyan proposes that Armenia adopt European standards because
Europe affords opportunities for both traditional and new parties.

With respect to the statements that the reason for party merger is
that such a high number of political parties is unacceptable in a
country like Armenia, Mr Avetikyan said:

“Yes, 63 political parties are said to be registered in Armenia. But
being registered is a different thing. We have more than 4,000
non-governmental organizations. But only a few of them are capable of
anything. As regards party merger, it is an artificial process. What
is the basis? Are parties expected to join one another and form new
parties? I cannot understand it.”

Asked about solutions, Mr Avetikyan said:

“A solution would be reducing the threshold for parties running for
Parliament from 7% for political alliances and 5% for political
parties down to 1%. But it may be irrelevant as well. In Israel, for
example, small political parties may be influential reforms or
formation of a new government -even if they have a couple of their
representatives. And two major parties may counterbalance each other.
This is one of the ways of forming a multiparty system in Armenia, but
not by means of artificial party merger. Merger round what? Numerous
parties with different names joined the Prosperous Armenia party (a
list compiled prior to the 2012 parliamentary elections – ed.) What
was the ideological basis of that alliance?”

Elaborating on constitutional reforms, Mr Avetikyan pointed out their
advisability.

“I have not examined the concept so I cannot say anything. But my
principled stand is as follows: when we say ‘Constitution’, it must be
honored at any cost.

“As regards the proportional representation and first-past-the-post
voting systems, I would support proportional representation if
Armenia’s political parties were real political parties. Most of them
are one-man parties or money-parties. Very few parties are of global
importance in Armenia, and they are idle if they have no money or
power. They face serious problems in political integration. Therefore,
proportional representation or first-past-the-post voting systems do
not matter.