Naira Zohrabyan: How can we speak of switch-over to parliamentary system given mounting tensions on border? (video)
During the parliamentary hearings on the draft constitutional amendments at the National Assembly, opposition lawmaker Hrant Bagratyan first apologized that they had to participate in the discussions given the intensified tensions on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan. “We have thousands of questions to ask and we shall ask as many as we manage. First, the draft document restricts human rights under the guises of maintaining public order. How can you call it a human-centered constitution if it has 18 provisions restricting human rights?” said the lawmaker of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK). Serzh Sargsyan’s representative Vardan Poghosyan, who introduced the draft amendments at the National Assembly, said the acting Constitution also envisages restrictions on fundamental rights; hence there is no need for criticism. “Yes, the right to life is not an absolute right. Unfortunately, I have criticized myself very often but I do not regret that I did not take demagogic arguments seriously and we did not include in the new constitution the restrictions that exist in the European Convention. How can one not shoot a terrorist? Naira Zohrabyan, Secretary of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) faction, wondered how they can think of switching from a as semi-presidential system to a parliamentary system given the mounting tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. She added that BHK representatives are going to visit border villages later in the day.
