JULY 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – YEREVAN — Armenia’s opposition accused President Serzh Sargsyan of trying to fiddle with the constitution so that he can run the country from parliament after he leaves the presidency in 2018.
Last week, Armenia’s Constitutional Court unveiled plans for a transition to a parliamentary democracy. Armenians are due to vote on the reforms in December.
The government has said a new system would strengthen democracy.
The opposition disagree.
“Serzh Sargsyan is carrying out the reform with one purpose only: to circumvent the constitutional ban on seeking a third term as president and thus extend his own power, Levon Zurabyan, the head of the ANC parliamentary faction,” said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Armenia’s constitution currently concentrates power with the president. It limits him or her to two terms of five years, a ceiling that Mr Sargsyan will hit in 2018.
David Harutyunyan, an MP from the ruling Republican Party, defended the constitutional changes.
“The basic idea of constitutional reform is to prepare the country for a peaceful change of power, he told journalists at a press conference.
“The current constitution with a semi-hybrid form of government has brought some countries to a dangerous situation. For Armenia, it may have even more damaging consequences.”
There is precedent for reducing the power of the president and switching to a parliamentary democracy in the Central Asia and South Caucasus region.