ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT APPROVES TRANSITION TO PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT SYSTEM

ITAR-TASS, Russia
March 15, 2015 Sunday 12:03 AM GMT+4

YEREVAN March 15.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsian approved on Saturday a concept of
the constitutional reform that envisages transition to a parliamentary
government system

Sargsian instructed the special commission of lawyers, which he
established on September 4 and which presented the document to him, to
hold discussions on the concept with the country’s political parties.

Armenia’s president told the lawyers he “has the same substantiated
opinion that constitutional reforms are crucial for the country as
they can be carried out only under the condition of broad political
consolidation.”

“This concept is a programme document which implementation will
actually provide new opportunities for Armenia’s growth,” Sargsian
said.

“The legal commission’s reasons and grounds are substantial taking into
regard the transition to the parliamentary government system,” he said
adding that the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe “agrees that
the parliamentary government system may entrench democracy in Armenia.”

“The consultations with political parties showed that straightforward
and coinciding approaches cannot be applied to the issue,” he said
expressing his concern over “the lawyers’ approaches to amending the
current system of presidential government.”

Sargsian said that “he has no clear comprehension yet how the offered
parliamentary government system will unequivocally guarantee two
constituents – the country’s foreign and domestic security and
stability of the system of the state governance which the current
government system ensures.”

Besides, Armenia’s president said that “it is not by chance that
the lawyers expressed their doubt in stability of the parliamentary
government system and proposed preliminary options for transition to
it.” -0-mil/