Supporters of Babayan Call on Artsakh NSS and Police to Seek Other Places for Overthrowing Constitutional Order

The initiators of the signature collection for constitutional changes in Artsakh have called on the employees of the NSS and police system to serve solely the interests of their own people, rather than the governmental pyramid.

The full text of the initiators’ statement is as follows:

“The signature collection initiated in Artsakh, which occurs under the norms of constitutional order—meaning in accordance with the law, from the moment it began, and throughout the process, is transparent and does not carry any provocation. Moreover, elements that undermine constitutional order are not present, as it is precisely stipulated by the constitution.

The signature collection has not yet reached its final point and has not yet been submitted for parliamentary discussion; however, clear statements from the level of MPs are already heard, asserting that we will not accept even a hundred percent of signatures or expressing their hopes and confidence that the Supreme Court will not confirm the legality of this proposal.

Meanwhile, this project for constitutional amendments includes the first step toward fulfilling the cherished desire that was accepted by the decision of December 1, 1989, and is inscribed in black on white: to reunite with the Motherland, Armenia, as well as to realize the unyielding will of the people of Artsakh to develop and protect the right to self-determination based on the Republic of Artsakh, which was established on September 2, 1991, and proclaimed independent by the referendum on December 10, 1991, as noted in the preamble of the Artsakh Republic’s constitution.

For years, the repeatedly elected government cannot accept this crucial issue as long as the power is passed to its ideological successors, meaning it does not want to lose power in Artsakh. Furthermore, the government that has kept the country in a state of martial law for almost 20 years, constantly reminding that a war could start at any minute, finds it astonishing to speak of democracy when, in fact, dictatorship reigns in the country, where the constitution is violated, and constitutionally prescribed steps are viewed as undermining the constitutional order.

In reality, this government does not care about the constitution and its order of preservation, because they are even unaware of the laws written by their own hand, which clearly speak about the process of conducting rallies; the constitution allows rallies to be held provided that relevant bodies are informed in advance.

This raises the question: why the calls to the NSS and the Police about the undermining of constitutional order, if they have not even received requests for the holding of constitutionally approved rallies?

Referring to Samvel Babayan’s interview, specifically when Babayan mentioned that those who have signed will eventually come for their signatures—without specifying any timelines—he stated, instead of making calls, simply do not distort people’s words by interpreting them in a way that suits you, as all this could lead to tensions that you will provoke and become solely responsible for.

Therefore, it is absurd and inappropriate for law enforcement bodies to make nonexistent matters a subject of discussion and make premature calls and statements. Of course, we also understand that this is an attempt to instill fear in the public to avoid participation in the rallies.

This is your modus operandi: to keep the people first under dictatorship, in a constant state of fear of martial law, or to intimidate them with internal signals, namely through the police or the NSS.

The signature collection and all subsequent processes will be conducted solely within the framework of the laws established by the constitution; thus, we urge those undermining the constitutional order to search for other places. Enough with using the NSS and police as tools to dispel your own fears. We call on employees serving in the NSS and police system to serve solely the interests of their own people, rather than the governmental pyramid.

And do not forget, the initiating group of the signature collection consists of 218 members, including Samvel Babayan; it is not solely named after Samvel Babayan.

It should be reminded that on July 7, the NSS of Artsakh, considering that presidential and parliamentary elections are anticipated in the Artsakh Republic in 2020, called on political forces and individuals engaged in political processes to organize their activities exclusively in accordance with the requirements of the Artsakh Constitution and laws.