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DRAFT CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS ATTRACT DIVERGING COMMENTS IN ARMENIA
11:25 * 10.09.14
The proposed constitutional amendments, debated actively over the
recent period, receive various evaluations and comments by right-
and left-wing politicians in Armenia.
Tevan Poghosyan, a lawmaker of the opposition Heritage party, says
he doesn't see any trust in the electoral mechanisms to attract the
opponents of the reforms to present their arguments.
"It's a more important argument than anything else," he told Tert.am.
The opposition MP said he doesn't understand in what way the existing
mechanisms can enable the authorities to ensure the implementation
of even the best proposal."We are not sure the electoral mechanisms
can help resolve any problem today," Poghosyan said, adding that the
proposals in question are practically possible to implement without
constitutional amendments.
"All we need is to make changes in the law," he said, promising that
the party will elaborate on its position at the upcoming debates.
Speaking to Tert.am, Tigran Urikhanyan of the opposition-leaning
Prosperous Armenian party declined to comment on President Serzh
Sargsyan's earlier statement that the opponents of the reforms fail
to present any argument.
"With the poverty rate amounting to 40%, the economic paces seeing
a dramatic decline and the social conditions being unspeakably
problematic, it isn't appropriate to waste huge financial, political
and human resources for conducting a referendum. The priorities the
Armenian citizen sets today have to do with the existing problems
in the country," he said, adding that it is the individual citizen's
right to voice preferences and call for political reforms.
Commenting on the issue, Hovhannes Sahakyan of the ruling Republican
parliamentary faction said he doesn't see any counter-argument apart
from political accentuations (which he considered untimely).
He also addressed the widely argued lack of confidence in electoral
commissions. "The representatives of those political forces, who
speak about confidence, do not even have a member to represent in
the commission. So they are naturally supposed to speak about the
commission's untrustworthiness. I would first of all call on those
people to expand their political team a little bit to fill the seats
in the commission as prescribed by the law," he noted.
Sahakyan said he thinks that the Electoral Code has improved
considerably after the latest amendments to ensure the conduct of
free, fair and transparent elections. "The Electoral Code is a tool
that helps every citizen to exercise his or her right to a free and
fair election. As for the other mechanisms, that's a problem for the
political forces in terms of demonstrating a will," he added.
Commenting on the remark that a waste of resources is unjustified
today, the Republican MP said he doesn't find such arguments
realistic. "We are already stepping into the field of improbabilities.
There are, of course, social difficulties, but if that is the case,
then no government institution should function , as financial
resources are allocated from the budget. I think that's the most
vulnerable argument, so we will present our counter-remarks once it
is officially made public," he added.
Armenian News - Tert.am
From: A. Papazian
11:25 * 10.09.14
The proposed constitutional amendments, debated actively over the
recent period, receive various evaluations and comments by right-
and left-wing politicians in Armenia.
Tevan Poghosyan, a lawmaker of the opposition Heritage party, says
he doesn't see any trust in the electoral mechanisms to attract the
opponents of the reforms to present their arguments.
"It's a more important argument than anything else," he told Tert.am.
The opposition MP said he doesn't understand in what way the existing
mechanisms can enable the authorities to ensure the implementation
of even the best proposal."We are not sure the electoral mechanisms
can help resolve any problem today," Poghosyan said, adding that the
proposals in question are practically possible to implement without
constitutional amendments.
"All we need is to make changes in the law," he said, promising that
the party will elaborate on its position at the upcoming debates.
Speaking to Tert.am, Tigran Urikhanyan of the opposition-leaning
Prosperous Armenian party declined to comment on President Serzh
Sargsyan's earlier statement that the opponents of the reforms fail
to present any argument.
"With the poverty rate amounting to 40%, the economic paces seeing
a dramatic decline and the social conditions being unspeakably
problematic, it isn't appropriate to waste huge financial, political
and human resources for conducting a referendum. The priorities the
Armenian citizen sets today have to do with the existing problems
in the country," he said, adding that it is the individual citizen's
right to voice preferences and call for political reforms.
Commenting on the issue, Hovhannes Sahakyan of the ruling Republican
parliamentary faction said he doesn't see any counter-argument apart
from political accentuations (which he considered untimely).
He also addressed the widely argued lack of confidence in electoral
commissions. "The representatives of those political forces, who
speak about confidence, do not even have a member to represent in
the commission. So they are naturally supposed to speak about the
commission's untrustworthiness. I would first of all call on those
people to expand their political team a little bit to fill the seats
in the commission as prescribed by the law," he noted.
Sahakyan said he thinks that the Electoral Code has improved
considerably after the latest amendments to ensure the conduct of
free, fair and transparent elections. "The Electoral Code is a tool
that helps every citizen to exercise his or her right to a free and
fair election. As for the other mechanisms, that's a problem for the
political forces in terms of demonstrating a will," he added.
Commenting on the remark that a waste of resources is unjustified
today, the Republican MP said he doesn't find such arguments
realistic. "We are already stepping into the field of improbabilities.
There are, of course, social difficulties, but if that is the case,
then no government institution should function , as financial
resources are allocated from the budget. I think that's the most
vulnerable argument, so we will present our counter-remarks once it
is officially made public," he added.
Armenian News - Tert.am
From: A. Papazian