The provisions regarding the political restraint found in the new draft of the Constitution are considered a straitjacket among some political circles. In the interview with Aravot.am, Vice-Chairman of the “Heritage” party, Armen Martirosyan, noted that he estimated this draft of the Constitution negative in general.
Note that in accordance with the relevant provisions of the draft, the Ombudsman, the Central Election Commission, the Television and Radio Commission, members of Control Chamber and the Chairman of the Central Bank shall not be a member of any party or be involved in political activities in any form in the period of exercising their powers. They should display political restraint in public speeches.
Referring to the provision on the Chamber of Control, Mr. Martirosyan said, “The Chamber of Control should be given to the opposition and the number one political counterbalance structure and the restraint mechanism should be against the negative actions of the authorities. But in reality, it is the continuation of this government.” Mr. Martirosyan noted that the Chairman of the Control Chamber is talking about the embezzlement, which are political assessments, hence, what is the sense of displaying political restraint in this case.
Mr. Martirosyan noted, “This provision is a straightjacket. We saw that even the Chairman of the Control Chamber appointed by the authorities can give a tough assessment. Therefore, to avoid such a situation, the draft includes such a provision.”
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Mr. Martirosyan opines that the restrictions are numerous not only in terms of the Chairman of the Control Chamber, but also the human rights in general. Back to the provision regarding the CEC members, Armen Martirosyan mentioned, “If the CEC were truly an independent body, then it would be apolitical, but since it is not an independent body in our country, sometimes they willy-nilly appear in the circles of political statements.”
According to Armen Martirosyan, the provision regarding the CEC, it should not be prescribed that the CEC members should not be a partisan, but the party-membership card of the CEC member shall be frozen. For example, the Dashnak being a Chairman of the CEC cannot stop being an ARF member, but during his tenure, his partisanship is frozen.
In the sector broadcasting, Armen Martirosyan particularly has no concerns, since as of today, the Public Television does not meet the requirements that are attributed thereto. “It’s the government’s media rather than a public media that exists only at the expense of the taxes deducted from us. Therefore, I am not concerned, as we have already reached that point. Simply, the situation may be a bit more radical, I am talking about the marginal.”
To our question that perhaps the local authorities as a counterweight to this criticism may indicate that they want to depoliticize the governance sector, Mr. Martirosyan replied, “In reality, it is a one-party governance and belongs to the Republican Party. Simply, it is written with black on the white. It is not that it is written with black on the white that it is an autocratic one-party political system, it is not like it is going to be a revolution in this governance system with this Constitution. The political parties would not be allowed to go close the parliament, not to speak about to such positions. They are designed for the political majority.”
According to the vice-chairman of the “Heritage” party, if they wanted to advance the interests of the state, they should have given these positions to the opposition and written that that a political restraint should be maintained. While, in this case, these provisions are merely to beautify the draft. He summed up, “It I as clear as a day that the state decisions are made not in the public bodies but in the RPA Council.” Mr. Martirosyan is also concerned that the party affiliation of the representatives of the force structures is determined by the law while, according to Armen Martirosyan, it should be prohibited by the Constitution.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
