Friday, August 14 2015 13:31

 Constitutional Reform will become an obituary for Armenia, as it will ruin the country, Ashot Manucharyan, the former minister of interior, adviser of the first president of Armenia for national security, a member of the Karabakh Committee, told a news conference, on August 14.

He is sure that any law or document adopted in Armenia within the last 20 years was dictated by the West and is a plot against Armenia. Manucharyan thinks, if passed, these amendments will lead to outrage in the country and boost migration. 

According to Manucharyan, the authorities do not want to reform the Constitution, as the present Basic Law is more favorable for them to retain their grip on power. Nevertheless, the authorities cannot resist the influence of the external forces. "As the greatest part of the Armenian population, political and public organizations oppose the reform, it will probably become a good reason for public mobilization against the Constitutional Reform," he said.

The professional Committee on Constitutional Reforms has published the 15 chapters of the RA draft Constitution on August 4. The first 7 Chapters of the draft Constitution were published on July 15, which resulted in equivocal reactions among the Armenian society, experts and political forces. The draft constitutional reforms initiated by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan imply a switch to a parliamentary regime. According to the new draft Constitution, the Prime Minister becomes the commander-in-chief in the times of war.  The President becomes an arbitrator assuring natural implementation of the Constitution of the country. The President is elected by a board consisting of parliamentarians and representatives of local administrations, then he/she appoints the Prime Minister represented by the Parliamentary Majority. The President shall be non- partisan and can be elected for seven years one term only. The Parliament is formed by means of proportional elections and consists of at least 101 members.