Committee for Constitutional Reform will submit additional package of reform to President Serzh Sargsyan on 1 July, Head of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Gagik Haroutiunyan said at public hearings on the draft concept of the constitutional reform, on 20 May.
"The Committee has revealed a number of problems connected with the constitutional situation in the country that cannot be settled in a semi-presidential system of government. However, there is no final decision on a change of the government system yet," Haroutiunyan said. He said that the only alternative to the given system of government is so far the parliamentary system.
According to Haroutiunyan, constitutional reform is required, as there is no supremacy of the law in the country, which is an important factor for development of democracy in the country. He said there are many regulatory acts that somehow evade or even run contrary to the Constitution. "Some laws are imperfect and need amendments," he said.
To recall, on April 10 the Presidential Committee for Constitutional Reform made public a preliminary draft concept 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 draft concept 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. The concept is to be presented on July 1