Today when meeting members of the Commission for drawing out constitutional reforms, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said he is not going to run for president any more.
He also added that at present the mixed government system is the most beneficial for Armenia. However, for easy holding of the public hearings on the draft constitutional reforms submitted by the Commission, Sargsyan has officially declared that he will never run for president. "And even if as a result of public discussions a decision will be adopted to pass to the parliamentary government system, I will not pretend to the position of the premier either", - Sargsyan said.
He thinks that nobody in Armenia should run for president for more than two times. "I am the head of the political majority of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia and I would like to assure you that the party is ready and will be under the Constitution of Armenia, as it understands the importance of the Constitution", - Serzh Sargsyan said.
To recall, the Presidential Committee for Constitutional Reform has made public a preliminary concept of the project of constitutional reforms that feature transition to the parliamentary system of government in Armenia. The document, particularly, calls to expand the parliament's supervisory powers, authorize the legislative body to elect the president for a 7-year term. The authors of the project offer changes to the system of the presidential election. The presidential contenders must be non-party men, which will make them impartial arbiters for the legislative and executive powers. The new reforms will give the president a role of an arbiter with no executive powers. The authors of the project of constitutional reform explain such 'innovations' with the intention to de-monopolize the power, as a super-powerful president enjoying the support of the parliamentary majority inherently grasps the power. Meanwhile, the Committee members say a president having no party belonging will not be able to monopolize the power in the country.