Transition to rule by parliament is a move toward democracy in Armenia, expert says
13.03.2015,
15:53
Transition to parliamentary rule in Armenia will promote democracy, human rights expert Ara Ghazaryan said in a live broadcast on Sputnik-Armenia on Thursday, Novosti-Armenia reports.
YEREVAN, March 13. /ARKA/. Transition to parliamentary rule in Armenia will promote democracy, human rights expert Ara Ghazaryan said in a live broadcast on Sputnik-Armenia on Thursday, Novosti-Armenia reports.
“We have come to a point now when the interests of the authorities coincide with people’s interest. The interest of democracy demands a transfer to parliamentary rule with more efficient democratic mechanisms,” Ghazaryan said in speaking about the constitutional reform.
According to the expert, the presidential power is not balanced anymore by the parliament, leading to a failure of democratic mechanisms and singularity of the power.
In fact, Armenia has become an ultra-presidential republic, where there is no balance, which means there is no development, the expert said.
The more efficient democratic mechanisms are in a country the better it responds to challenges, Ghazaryan said in commenting the opinion of some experts that presidential rule is a better option for a country facing a threat of war.
The National Assembly will be a platform where ideas collide launching a democratic self-regulation, he said. The expert said he personally sees a great need for the constitutional reform when coming across, in the courts, the problems caused by election processes.
At the same time, the expert said the constitutional reform should be implemented exclusively through a referendum.
The process of constitutional reform was started in 2013 September after setting up a commission of professionals dealing with the reformation of the basic law.
The concept was described by the Council of Europe's Venice Commission as a good basis for drafting specific proposals for constitutional reforms, enabling to strengthen democratic values and create conditions necessary for ensuring rule of law and respect for human rights in Armenia.
The concept was described by the Council of Europe's Venice Commission as a good basis for drafting specific proposals for constitutional reforms, enabling to strengthen democratic values and create conditions necessary for ensuring rule of law and respect for human rights in Armenia.
The concept must be approved by the president of the country. Then the commission will have ten months for drafting the amendments and submit them to the head of state. Originally the constitutional referendum was to be held either in late 2015 or early 2016, however, the concept is not yet approved by the president. -0-
