‘Serzh Sargsyan is not that cheap, he is a cunning person’: Nikol Pashinyan

This is a good opportunity to talk about all the accumulated issues, starting from the Nagorno-Karabakh issue to the economy and everything in between. This was stated today, on March 10, in Meghri during a speech at a ‘Yes’ campaign rally by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who added that he will not have the same speech in every locality as it will be continuous.

Pashinyan mentioned that when organizing a referendum on constitutional changes in 2015, there were statements that it was done to extend Serzh Sargsyan's power. He pointed out, ‘The government said there is no such thing, what are you talking about? This is for the establishment of our country’s institutions.’ He reminded that they were told to watch the changes made regarding the Constitutional Court (CC) institution, which would have revolutionary significance for Armenia.

According to Pashinyan, the Constitution states that the CC should be a balanced, apolitical body. He explained that previously the same parliamentary majority nominated and elected the CC members, but now they were changing the method of CC formation so that afterwards the Assembly would not have the opportunity to nominate a CC candidate, but only vote for or against. The new regulations would allow the President of Armenia to nominate three candidates, the government to nominate three, and the General Assembly of Judges to nominate three candidates, who would then be voted on by the parliament.

He stated that this is a guarantee that we will not have a CC formed by one party or one group.

Pashinyan presented three major changes: firstly, while previously a CC member served for life, under the new Constitution they will serve for 12 years, and the CC president will be elected for 6 years and only once. Secondly, the CC president will be elected not by the Assembly, but by the CC judges themselves from among them. The presidency of the CC was for life, but has now become 6 years.

‘This Constitution is currently 100% in effect. Now the question is, do we have the Constitutional Court as I have described? No, we do not have such a CC,’ he continued.

According to him, under the Constitution, an election for CC president should take place every 6 years, meaning the next election should be in 2024. However, looking at their interpretation, that should take place in 2035. This means that they have nullified at least two elections for the CC president. He added that this would be absurd to claim that the parliament was elected in 2018 and to come up with a law stating that there would be no parliamentary elections in Armenia until 2035.

‘But now the question is, how did these people manage this? They wrote in the transitional provisions that these changes do not apply to judges elected under the old rules. But don’t think this was done for the old judges. It was done for the purpose that when Serzh Sargsyan and Hrayr Tovmasyan were dividing the sectors with scissors, a simple question arose: if Hrayr Tovmasyan creates an opportunity for Serzh Sargsyan to remain in power for life, then Sargsyan, who is not that cheap of a guy, must say that he should also remain the CC president for life,’ claimed the Prime Minister.

Pashinyan further explained that this was orchestrated by the CC president, Gagik Harutyunyan, who resigned 25 days before the end of his term, allowing Hrayr Tovmasyan to be elected as a CC member and subsequently a judge under the old rules. He noted that deadlines were violated, fraud was permitted, and a criminal case has been initiated on this fact. The Prime Minister announced that they will gradually make what is written in the Constitution a reality, and the constitutional referendum is directed towards that end.