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ROBERT KOCHARYAN: PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY SOFTEN DISPROPORTIONS IN THE POWER STRUCTURE
arminfo
Tuesday, November 13, 15:23
One can govern wise or fail both on the president's and on the prime
minister's post, Robert Kocharyan, the second president of Armenia,
told 2rd.am when commenting on the rumors that he is the initiator
of Prosperous Armenian Party's political consultations on the topic
of Armenia's transition to the parliamentary system of government.
"If I were strongly committed to the parliamentary system of
government, Armenia would transfer to that system already after the
Constitutional Referendum of 2005 (the initiator was the president).
The point is not the system of government, but the right selection
of the system of checks and balances, functionality of the political
framework, traditions and maturity of the civil society," Robert
Kocharyan said.
He recalled that in the period of his presidency, he initiated
constitutional reforms that significantly expanded the powers of the
government. "However, in practice, the role of the government has
tangibly decreased for some unknown reasons," the second president
said. He said that Prosperous Armenia's consultations on the topic
of a transfer to the parliamentary system of government is rather
a response to the evident disproportions in the real rights and
constitutional responsibilities of various power institutions in the
country. "It is obvious already now that the negative consequences of
such disproportions will be long- term. Actually, semi-presidential
system of government has such lacks even in the countries with
developed democracy," Kocharyan said.
He said that he prefers the U.S. model of state government where the
president heads the executive power and is directly responsible for
economy. The parliament in the U.S. has powerful levers of control.
"However, European traditions are traditions of parliamentarism and
we are in the perimeter of European political processes. In addition,
the parliamentary system of government will significantly soften the
problem of disproportions in the power," he said.
As regards the second issue on agenda of Prosperous Armenia's
political consultations - transfer to the 100% proportional system
of parliamentary elections, Robert Kocharyan said: "Single-member
district electoral system in Armenia feeds the process of feudalization
of areas within those districts and the authorities contribute that
because they pursue retention of power. It is an extremely harmful
system and the sooner we get rid of it the better.
That is why the number of single-mandate candidates has been reduced
several times in the country. I regret for not completing that
process. Why? The reason is trite - the authorities wanted to have
an edge in the single-member districts."
"I agreed to give a not large interview to explain my stance on
this important issue, otherwise others would conjecture it. Second,
I have no relation to the initiation of the given issue. I'd like to
advise them who see my shadow in everything to finally understand
that a good political team has been created at Prosperous Armenia,
which is able to form political agenda of the party independently,"
the second president concluded.
arminfo
Tuesday, November 13, 15:23
One can govern wise or fail both on the president's and on the prime
minister's post, Robert Kocharyan, the second president of Armenia,
told 2rd.am when commenting on the rumors that he is the initiator
of Prosperous Armenian Party's political consultations on the topic
of Armenia's transition to the parliamentary system of government.
"If I were strongly committed to the parliamentary system of
government, Armenia would transfer to that system already after the
Constitutional Referendum of 2005 (the initiator was the president).
The point is not the system of government, but the right selection
of the system of checks and balances, functionality of the political
framework, traditions and maturity of the civil society," Robert
Kocharyan said.
He recalled that in the period of his presidency, he initiated
constitutional reforms that significantly expanded the powers of the
government. "However, in practice, the role of the government has
tangibly decreased for some unknown reasons," the second president
said. He said that Prosperous Armenia's consultations on the topic
of a transfer to the parliamentary system of government is rather
a response to the evident disproportions in the real rights and
constitutional responsibilities of various power institutions in the
country. "It is obvious already now that the negative consequences of
such disproportions will be long- term. Actually, semi-presidential
system of government has such lacks even in the countries with
developed democracy," Kocharyan said.
He said that he prefers the U.S. model of state government where the
president heads the executive power and is directly responsible for
economy. The parliament in the U.S. has powerful levers of control.
"However, European traditions are traditions of parliamentarism and
we are in the perimeter of European political processes. In addition,
the parliamentary system of government will significantly soften the
problem of disproportions in the power," he said.
As regards the second issue on agenda of Prosperous Armenia's
political consultations - transfer to the 100% proportional system
of parliamentary elections, Robert Kocharyan said: "Single-member
district electoral system in Armenia feeds the process of feudalization
of areas within those districts and the authorities contribute that
because they pursue retention of power. It is an extremely harmful
system and the sooner we get rid of it the better.
That is why the number of single-mandate candidates has been reduced
several times in the country. I regret for not completing that
process. Why? The reason is trite - the authorities wanted to have
an edge in the single-member districts."
"I agreed to give a not large interview to explain my stance on
this important issue, otherwise others would conjecture it. Second,
I have no relation to the initiation of the given issue. I'd like to
advise them who see my shadow in everything to finally understand
that a good political team has been created at Prosperous Armenia,
which is able to form political agenda of the party independently,"
the second president concluded.