The Committee for Constitutional Reforms under the President of Armenia has presented a mess rather than constitutional reforms, Secretary of Heritage Party Stepan Safaryan told ArmInfo's correspondent.
"There are many unclear items in the draft of the reforms but one of the most unclear ones is the imperative provision saying that the president shall be non-partisan. The impression is that they are going to impose on us a president from the street, i.e. any streetwalker without political past may be appointed president", he said with indignation.
Safaryan added that at the moment he believes Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who says that he is no longer going to run for president. "The President's statement had only one goal - to reduce the tension in the political field of Armenia. In the meantime, many people wonder who will replace him as president", he said.
To note, on April 10 the Presidential Committee for Constitutional Reform 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. At a meeting with members of the Committee, Serzh Sargsyan officially declared that he would never run for president. "And even if as a result of public discussions a decision is adopted to pass to the parliamentary government system, I will not pretend to the position of the premier either", Sargsyan said.