Any Means Necessary, I Will Continue to Fight until Constitutional Order is Restored in Armenia

I will continue to fight by any means necessary until constitutional order is restored in Armenia. This was stated today by Constitutional Court judge Hrayr Tovmasyan during a conversation with journalists.

“I cannot say when I will achieve success and what day that will be,” he said.

According to Tovmasyan, other candidates should have been nominated for the position of President of the Constitutional Court. “When Mr. Khachatryan withdrew his candidacy, I said that I had not talked with Mr. Khachatryan and had not coordinated. But if one candidate is left, it creates such an impression,” he explained.

When asked why he did not nominate himself, Tovmasyan said he had no desire to do so. “When the candidates were not yet available, I announced that I had the impression that it is more about the following question of who should not be. Among those who should not be was me, or one judge,” he added.

Tovmasyan stated that the candidate for President of the Constitutional Court, Ervand Khundkaryan, should have experience. “It is quite similar to managing a chamber, decision-making, and so on. I cannot say what human qualities he possesses. Mr. Khundkaryan is not a specialist in constitutional law; we have not had discussions in that area. He is also distinguished as a lawyer. For me, the field of constitutional law is important,” he noted.

Commenting on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement that there is no longer a crisis in the Constitutional Court, the judge said, “In my opinion, the crisis is whether you can make decisions or not. Unfortunately, I must state that I do not know of any practice of any Constitutional Court in the world where for three months no decisions are made at all. When we look at why you interrupt those who have not yet been elected, to create such a situation? At least use the following path: let them continue to serve until new ones are elected.”