The Executive Body of the Republican Party of Armenia has issued a statement stating the following:
“The Republican Party of Armenia:
* analyzing the events in the new stage of the process of seizure of power that began in Armenia in April 2018;
* emphasizing that democracy is impossible without respect for and maintenance of the principle of rule of law (just like the people restrain the authorities with the Constitution, any public authority is restrained by the Constitution);
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* recording that blatant neglect and violation of the supreme law of the country are not only retreat from the values of a legal state, but also a dangerous path leading to anarchy;
* reaffirming the claim of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) that constitutional courts are the guardians of constitutional order and irremovability is designed to shield the constitutional court judges from influence from the political majority of the day;
* considering inacceptable that every new government can change practicing judges;
* recording that the term of office of a judge, much less retroactive reduction of the term of office are directly linked to the principle of independence of a judge and impact that independence;
* claiming that the proposed model for constitutional amendments will not only allow one political force to establish a Constitutional Court, but will also politicize the Constitutional Court for many years;
* sounding the alarm about the fact that tolerating the encroachment against the independence of the Constitutional Court puts the independence of the entire judiciary at risk and will put it at risk once and for all;
* reminding that automatic and immediate termination of the powers of judges of the Constitutional Court having served for 12 years and without envisaging transitional mechanisms contradicts the approaches of both the Venice Commission and the European Court of Human Rights;
* recording that applying to the Constitutional Court before making any amendment to the Constitution is the constitutional duty of the National Assembly (intentional bypass and violation of the imperative constitutional norms in the name of the people is a gross violation that is making the whole process of constitutional amendments unlawful and is placing a bomb at the core of a legal state);
* informing that depriving the President of the Republic of Armenian of the power to sign the draft constitutional amendments under the Constitutional Law “Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly” is an encroachment against the powers of the President of the Republic of Armenia and is aimed at supercentralization of power in the hands of the ruling political majority (such a pretension is a threat to the fundamental principles of democracy and a legal state);
Declares:
- What has happened is usurpation of power in the Republic of Armenia since the majority of the National Assembly is possessing the powers of the Constitutional Court and the country’s president in a manner not provided for by the Constitution.
- Nikol Pashinyan personally and the deputies of the National Assembly having voted in favor of the presented package of laws fully bear criminal and political responsibility for this flagrant encroachment against statehood.
- With this step, the authorities of Armenia have also disrespected the international commitments assumed by the country and have caused more harm to the reputation of Armenia.
- The process of destroying statehood will inevitably lead to irreversible losses, and the only way to avoid those losses is to remove Nikol Pashinyan from office.”