“I am not a judge”: Raffi Hovannisian on Armenian president’s consultations with political parties
The Armenian opposition party ‘Heritage’ is opposed to the constitutional reform in Armenia, the leader of Heritage Raffi Hovannisian told a press conference today.
In his words, no matter how much the proposed amendments are hailed by some, the adoption of that document will not have a positive impact on the quality of state administration.
Raffi Hovannisian stressed the need for wide political consolidation: “It is necessary to understand what is on the scale – the rights and dignity of the Armenian citizen, and also the sovereignty of the country”.
When speaking about the meetings the Armenian president has held with representatives of Armenia’s political parties as part of the consultations on the constitutional reform, the leader of Heritage said: “I am not a judge. Each party and organization has its preferences and decisions. I don’t blame or judge, I just take note “.
Asked if Heritage Party will cooperate with “No!” movement against the constitutional reform, R. Hovannisian replied: “We are going to cooperate with all those who support snap elections – the constitutional reform may be carried out only after snap elections”.
As was reported, President Serzh Sargsyan submitted on August 21 the draft amendments in the Constitution of Armenia to the National Assembly. The draft amendments had been developed by the Commission on Constitutional Reforms under Armenian President.
Vardan Poghosyan, a member of the Commission, has been appointed as official representative of Armenian President for presentation of the draft amendments to the Constitution in the National Assembly of Armenia. The head of state also instructed the Commission on Constitutional Reforms under Armenian President to continue the dialog with the Venice Commission (VC) over those issues indicated in the VC’s preliminary opinion, around which no agreed solutions have been found so far. Besides, last week Serzh Sargsyan has held consultations on the approaches stated in the draft new Constitution with representatives of various political parties.