“We have a paradoxical situation where the President performs the functions of the guarantor of statehood having no real tools,” the January 23 resignation of Armenian President Armen Sarkissian states. According to him, “We live in a peculiar reality where the President cannot influence issues related to war and peace. In a reality where he cannot veto those bills that he considers inappropriate for the state and people. In a reality where the President’s capabilities are not perceived as an advantage for the state but are viewed as a threat to various political groups.” Whom is the last statement addressed to?
The guests of Aravot’s “Areresum (Confrontation)” program, President of the International Center for Human Development Tevan Poghosyan and former Armenian Ambassador to Poland, Armenian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Edgar Ghazaryan addressed these and other issues related to the President’s resignation. References were made to the criterion already published by the RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan regarding the new president: “The president, the government, and the majority of the parliament must have political harmony.” Will we have more unipolar power instead of restraints and counterbalances?
Here are a few quotes from their statements.
Tevan Poghosyan: Any political unit wanted the statement by the institution of the president to be in line with their point of view․․․ And since the idea of the presidency was written in such a way that it should unite everyone, you should be able to find an approach through negotiations that would satisfy everyone, or give everyone the opportunity to come and join. But taking into account our peculiarities, when he met someone, then another, then tried to publish a neutral text, everyone thought the text was against them․․․ This is a natural process, and it stems from the problems that we have to mature politically. The opportunity to reach dialogue and a political consensus must become a part of our political culture, which we do not have.
Read also
Edgar Ghazaryan: Yes, that function is given to him by the Constitution because he must be neutral towards any political party. Even if he belongs to a party, he must leave in order to properly perform the function of the head of the state and the guardian of the Constitution. But in reality, he has mixed the political system with his actions, and more tension has been created. He was not expected to serve the interests of this or that political force, but on the contrary, he was expected to perform his functions with political neutrality. And he refused to perform his functions… According to the Constitution of our country, the President monitors the observance of the Constitution, and their actions must be aimed at that. The President also has the right to address the National Assembly with messages, which he has never done. Suppose the president has the right to decide the day of the election, which was decided by Nikol Pashinyan, who was appointed to his post in March, and he did not express any concern that they have entered his field of authority.
Tevan Poghosyan: There is no belief that these authorities will bring and consciously vote for someone who will be able to knock on everyone’s door, open it, and enter. If Armen Sarkissian was able to invite many people and hold discussions, and maybe make some not-so-pleasant decisions, but all the same, the field of discussion was being formed. Now, it will not exist. This is the most painful part.
Edgar Ghazaryan: To add onto and agree with your idea, let me say that if we expected Armen Sarkissian to appeal to the Constitutional Court, but he did not, in this case we can not even have those expectations. That is, what will be presented to the president, on the same day, will be signed and published in a few seconds, as the Constitution was adopted in 4 hours, and the constitutional laws were adopted in 2 hours. In other words, we can no longer even have that expectation.
