Kocharyan: constitutional reform is dangerous for future of Armenia

Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has not changed his opinion towards constitutional reform. According to him, there is no need for constitutional reforms, especially such radical ones.

All the challenges and problems that the country is faced with are quite solvable within the current Constitution, the former head of the republic noted, recognizing that the published draft has exceeded his worst expectations.

"It’s not just about a choice between semi-presidential and parliamentary forms of government," Kocharyan said. In the draft Constitution, he sees "real risks that the country may plunge into a de facto single-party system" in the draft Constitution, which leads to "political monopoly and stagnation."

The former Armenian President remembered the Soviet Constitution, which "contained a lot of beautiful words" but "the 6th article on the ruling role of the CPSU legalized the communists’ political monopoly." What eventually happened to the Soviet Union is known to everybody, he said.

Kocharyan described beautiful phrases on human rights and social goals of the state as "totally unacceptable camouflage for a totally unacceptable method of forming the National Assembly that emasculates the essence of the parliamentary form of government."

According to him, the 89th article is designed to ensure dominance in parliament, and therefore in power, of one political party. In reality it will be the party which holds administrative and financial resources regardless of its popularity, the former president said.

In essence, the proposed project makes political monopoly a constitutional norm, Kocharyan concluded.

"A big mistake is being committed, the consequences of which are extremely dangerous for the future of Armenia," News.am. cited him as saying.