The Venice Commission member, Aivars Endziņš, talking about the political forces that want to boycott the constitutional reforms, said, “The political forces and parties, which ignore the constitutional reforms and the processes associated thereof, they are not true political figures.” Aravot.am asked one of the forces boycotting the Constitutional reforms, the spokesman of the Funding Parliament, Varuzhan Avetisyan, about how he will estimate this statement, he responded, “This person has exceeded the boundaries of his powers and missions. They are not called to give political comments, but they have distinct powers and functions. It is just an opinion by one private man rather than the Commission’s opinion”.
Varuzhan Avetisyan does not particularly give importance to the Venice Commission members’ visit to Armenia, expressing an opinion that just a trade is going on. We were interested to know about the cost of this trade, he replied, “For us, the cost is the loss of Armenia while for each of them – their own interests.” To the question of whether the local authorities will manage to convince the Venice Commission, for example, of the provision regarding the second round and the stable majority, Varuzhan Avetisyan responded, “The regime has stipulated such progressive provisions, if it is capable, it will maintain, if not, then we will get along without it.” To our question about the final opinion of the Commission, Mr. Avetisyan responded as follows: “It is a small trade about a very big phenomenon, Armenia is put on the scales, they are trying shape the format of their relations on the details for the new governance system as to how much they are going to control Armenia. Our national interest is missing here, they are pushing their interests ahead. It is a mixture of traitors and criminals.”
We asked what front they are going to fight against the constitutional reforms, whether they will join “Won’t Let You Pass It” movement or “No” movement, Varuzhan Avetisyan explained, “If the objective of this movement is the removal of the regime, we will attend, if we should just go and vote and to arbitrarily legitimize the regime, then, no. The theme of constitutional amendments for us is just a way to consolidate the political forces. We do not pursue it as a goal. This draft should not be allowed to be passed, but it must be done through the removal of the regime. In other words, to fight not against the document but against its author. We are engaged in the formation of a political front that should remove the regime and later on assume the responsibility to rule the country. The phenomenon of constitutional reforms should be an opportunity for the political parties to realize that in case of continuing in this way, the country is growing into a concentration camp.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
