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MEASURING DEMOCRACY: ANALYST SAYS ABOLISHING DIRECT PRESIDENTIAL BALLOT REMOVES ONE DEMOCRATIC INSTRUMENT
POLITICS | 19.03.15 | 15:46
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/61566/armenia_constitutional_reform_parliamentary_system
Photolure
GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
While the ruling Republican Party of Armenia insists that a transition
to a parliamentary system of governance as part of the constitutional
changes in Armenia will enhance democracy, political analyst Hovhannes
Galstyan believes that thus one of the most important tools of
democracy, elections, will be cut at least by one.
If a parliamentary form of governance is adopted, starting from 2018
there will be no more presidential elections; the president will be
elected by the Parliament.
Galstyan, an independent expert, is running a study to understand
whether there are any guarantees that the suggested system will
function. He says the results are not that "comforting" yet.
"First of all, decreasing the number of nationwide elections is a
problem for the new democracy. There will be just nationwide vote -
parliamentary elections, and then simply a ceremonial president will
be elected by the parliament, and the order the president will be
elected is not clarified yet," Galstyan told ArmeniaNow.
The expert said that the biggest counterbalance of the parliamentary
system is the independent judicial system, which, however, cannot be
considered independent in Armenia. According to Galstyan, with the
absence of an independent judiciary the parliamentary system might
develop in a very dangerous way.
"The stability mentioned in the agenda will lead to stagnation, i.e.
one political majority in the country will decide everything without
any serious counterbalance," Galstyan said.
And although many experts and members of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF) - the only parliamentary force that has so far openly
pronounced in favor of the administration-proposed constitutional
reform, say that with the parliamentary system the political party
system will develop in Armenia, however, Galstyan claims the opposite.
"With a weak party system like the one in Armenia, the parliamentary
system will not be formed," the expert said, adding that the society
does not feel the need of constitutional changes either.
"If in 1995 or 2005 we were going in one direction, i.e. with the logic
of developing the semi-presidential system, while in this case this
is a U-turn. We must also consider the legitimacy of these changes,
how urgent is the public demand for this issue," he said.
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/61566/armenia_constitutional_reform_parliamentary_system
POLITICS | 19.03.15 | 15:46
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/61566/armenia_constitutional_reform_parliamentary_system
Photolure
GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
While the ruling Republican Party of Armenia insists that a transition
to a parliamentary system of governance as part of the constitutional
changes in Armenia will enhance democracy, political analyst Hovhannes
Galstyan believes that thus one of the most important tools of
democracy, elections, will be cut at least by one.
If a parliamentary form of governance is adopted, starting from 2018
there will be no more presidential elections; the president will be
elected by the Parliament.
Galstyan, an independent expert, is running a study to understand
whether there are any guarantees that the suggested system will
function. He says the results are not that "comforting" yet.
"First of all, decreasing the number of nationwide elections is a
problem for the new democracy. There will be just nationwide vote -
parliamentary elections, and then simply a ceremonial president will
be elected by the parliament, and the order the president will be
elected is not clarified yet," Galstyan told ArmeniaNow.
The expert said that the biggest counterbalance of the parliamentary
system is the independent judicial system, which, however, cannot be
considered independent in Armenia. According to Galstyan, with the
absence of an independent judiciary the parliamentary system might
develop in a very dangerous way.
"The stability mentioned in the agenda will lead to stagnation, i.e.
one political majority in the country will decide everything without
any serious counterbalance," Galstyan said.
And although many experts and members of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF) - the only parliamentary force that has so far openly
pronounced in favor of the administration-proposed constitutional
reform, say that with the parliamentary system the political party
system will develop in Armenia, however, Galstyan claims the opposite.
"With a weak party system like the one in Armenia, the parliamentary
system will not be formed," the expert said, adding that the society
does not feel the need of constitutional changes either.
"If in 1995 or 2005 we were going in one direction, i.e. with the logic
of developing the semi-presidential system, while in this case this
is a U-turn. We must also consider the legitimacy of these changes,
how urgent is the public demand for this issue," he said.
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/61566/armenia_constitutional_reform_parliamentary_system