Authorities Find Way to Part Ways with Constitutional Court and Hrayr Tovmasyan

According to the "Zhoghovurd" daily, "After days of discussions from Dilijan to Yerevan, from Sayat-Nova to Baghramyan Avenue and various parliamentary rooms, the ruling party has finally found a realistic option to part ways with the president of the Constitutional Court and its undesirable composition in collaboration with the parliamentary ‘My Step’ faction. 37 ruling party members in the National Assembly have developed a draft amendment to the Constitution, proposing to nullify Article 213.

"Until the implementation of Chapter 7 of the Constitution, the appointed president and members of the Constitutional Court continue to serve until the expiration of their powers as defined by the Constitution amended in 2005," the proposal states.

The ruling team now suggests ceasing the tenure of the appointed president of the Constitutional Court and its members until the implementation of Chapter 7, except for Constitutional Court judges Vahe Grigoryan and Arman Dilanian, who are favorable judges for the authorities. Furthermore, a referendum will be proposed regarding the existence of the Constitutional Court so that citizens themselves can decide whether they want a Constitutional Court in our country or not.

Representatives of the former government argue that with the adoption of this bill, the National Assembly is seizing the powers of the Constitutional Court, in other words, appropriating judicial power, which is a criminal act. However, it is clear that for a broad section of the public, it does not matter whether there is a Constitutional Court in our country, as Armenian citizens do not have direct contact with the highest court, and it is already predictable that the opinion to dissolve the Constitutional Court will win overwhelmingly in the referendum.

In this way, both the issue of the Constitutional Court will be settled, and the resolver will not be the authorities, but the people through a referendum. This very question was discussed yesterday by the President of the National Assembly, Ararat Mirzoyan, with the ambassadors of the OSCE member countries. The daily information revealed that Mirzoyan persuaded the ambassadors to form an opinion that the Armenian authorities are not taking any anti-democratic steps.

It should be noted that yesterday evening, the leader of the “Bright Armenia” faction, Edmond Marukyan, announced that they and Prosperous Armenia would vote against it. And what does the Constitutional Court of Armenia think about this? The “Zhoghovurd” daily tried to get a comment from the head of the staff of the Constitutional Court, Edgar Ghazaryan, who stated, "I think it would be appropriate for those making the amendments to respond to their actions."

For more details, refer to today's issue of the ‘Zhoghovurd’ daily.