CC member explains why parliament speaker cannot be head of country (video)
The Constitution of 1995 was illegitimate because it contradicted the Declaration of the Republic of Armenia, a member of the Armenian Constitutional Court said on Monday. Kim Balayan says under the Declaration, Armenia was a parliamentary republic. “For example, Article 3 of the Declaration clearly states that exclusive authority to act on behalf of Armenia belongs to the Supreme Council,” he says. Article 5 of the Declaration envisages that Armenia shall form Armed Forces adjacent to the Supreme Council t in order to ensure its security. “Then it was called the Supreme Council and now it is called the National Assembly. Anyway, it is the same parliament,” he continued. The Constitution was 1995 was about a presidential system of government. Mr Balayan was Chairman of the Supreme Council’s Standing Commission on Legal Affairs. “It was then that I announced that the president’s office would be legitimate of corresponding amendments were introduced in the declaration,” he said. But no changes were made. Similarly, the constitutional amendments in 2005 were illegal. However, as a CC member, Mr Balayan speaks in support of both Constitutions because ‘the fact is that we had an organic law.’ He says Armenia's transformation into a parliamentary republic partially restores and enacts the provisions of the Declaration. But how can a president remain the head of the country? “If the Chairman of the National Assembly were the head of the country, it would mean that he would also be Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,” he stressed. Kim Balayan believes that the proposed amendments are an attempt to return power to the people, making them participants in key decision-making processes through a referendum. “Each citizen of Armenia should make it his mission to promote the adoption of a democratic constitution,” he said in conclusion.
