Stepan Safaryan: President is not a Santa Claus (video)
The “Yes” and “No” camps have been unable to hold substantive discussions, Republican lawmaker Levon Martirosyan said today ahead of the December 6 constitutional referendum in Armenia. He says the “No” camp has not produced serious arguments ‘questioning the package and showing its weak points.’ “They are all saying the same thing- the authorities are bad and their aim is to ensure their reproduction. These arguments are false,” said Mr Martirosyan. The Republican MP says they offer ‘a package of progressive changes’ and our society has already reached a level where they are ready to switch to a more progressive system – to a parliamentary government. “Willingly or unwillingly, we find ourselves voting for the acting Constitution. This is a campaign of “Either… or”, rather than “Yes or No.” Stepan Safaryan, Chairman of the Armenian Institute for International and Security Affairs, disagreed with Mr Martirosyan who said that “Yes” campaigners have already presented people the benefits of the changes while supporters of the “No” camp are not involved in discussions. “Only the thesis “stable majority” is enough for us to oppose the [constitutional] changes. Even the politicians, who were in favour of a parliamentary system of government, can no longer support these changes. I am going to say “no” to the changes but I know that neither the draft Constitution not the working one will change anything as long as decisions are taken at Baghramyan 26. Both documents have the same shortcomings as they do not envisage separation of powers. Levon Martirosyan said the main problem is that people do not have confidence in the authorities. “People in Italy and Israel are similarly skeptical about their governments. There are great differences between the working and the new Constitutions,” he said. Stepan Safaryan said he did not agree with the “No” Front in many issues either. “For example, when they say the President of the country must be kind and have goodwill like a Santa Claus. Then what is the use of this complicated Constitution if we simply need a good and kind president? I cannot understand the force who will say they do not want to come to power. Similarly, it will be strange if the authorities say they want to retire,” he said. Mr Martirosyan said in turn that the authorities do not want to invent a bicycle with the proposed changes, they just want to share the best practices in the world.
