Thursday, February 20 2020 13:09

ArmInfo.The real agenda in Armenia continues to be the need to adopt a new Constitution as the basis of the state building process. Such an  opinion was expressed  to ArmInfo by  political analyst Saro Saroyan.

"Unfortunately, the current administration directed the  post-revolutionary processes in the wrong direction.  As a result,  they did not lead to a coordinated, fundamental resolution of the key  issues facing the country.  In the conditions of abandonment of the  evolutionary path of development, extinguishing the" fires  "periodically arising here and there with palliatives is  impossible,  "he said.

According to the analyst, it was the new Constitution that would  allow the people to conclude a social contract on the basis of a  dialogue that promotes the formation of public consensus. In turn, a  social contract would open up the possibility of implementing  institutional changes in Armenia and the establishment of state  institutions, "he emphasized.

On February 10, Armenian President Armen Sargsyan signed a decree on  holding a referendum on constitutional amendments on April 5.  Earlier, at an extraordinary sitting of the National Assembly of  Armenia on February 6, the deputies voted "for" the issue of the need  to adopt amendments to the Constitution, providing for the  termination of the powers of the chairman and members of the  Constitutional Court for a referendum. We are talking about article  213 of the Constitution governing the tenure of members and the  chairman of the Constitutional Court. The adoption of the amendments  will allow the resignation of the current composition of the  Constitutional Court.

Meanwhile, according to Saroyan, in the absence of the above  processes, the referendum on determining the fate of the current  members of the Constitutional Court creates, in a sense, artificial  summons.  Convinced of the need to change the composition of the  Constitutional Court, the analyst does not attach importance to this  agenda, around which it is necessary to mobilize the whole society.

The draft constitutional amendments developed by the My Step  parliamentary faction provides for the termination of the powers of  the chairman and members of the Constitutional Court, appointed  before the 2015 constitutional reform. Seven of the nine judges of  the Constitutional Court got there in accordance with the provisions  of the Basic Law as amended in 1995 and 2005.

According to the logic of the ruling party, the continued exercise of  the powers of the judges of the Constitutional Court, appointed  before the Constitutional reform of 2015, creates a discrepancy  between the terms of office of judges appointed by the 1995  Constitution and those appointed by the 2005 Constitution.  The  powers of judges appointed after 2015 are generally limited to 12  years. At the same time, the head of the Constitutional Court Hrayr  Tovmasyan was elected to this post after the adoption of the new  Constitution, but before its entry into force.