The Armenian National Congress will actively participate in the referendum

The announcement of the Armenian National Congress on April 5, 2020 constitutional referendum.

“The Constitutional Court, formed in an illegitimate, criminal way, is one of the key factors threatening democracy and internal stability in post-revolutionary Armenia. Serving the interests of the former regime, which had repeatedly violated the constitutional regime and blocking the administration of justice, it has become a source of constitutional disturbance and a constant source of tension. The problem of forming a trustworthy Constitutional Court must be solved. Without it, it’s impossible to build a democratic country.

To accomplish this aim, taking into account the debate surrounding the legitimacy of the forthcoming referendum, we consider this decision for this stage satisfactory by the National Assembly to hold a referendum signed by Presidential Decree. It’s obvious that in 2015 many provisions of the current Constitution, which are imposed on people by large-scale falsification, cause and will always cause legal deadlocks and will give rise to contradictory interpretations. And at the point of the problem, the citizens of Armenia will put an end to the misunderstandings, as a result of referendum. The task of the authority is to guarantee full, non-negotiable conditions for freedom of speech.

The Congress repentances that the authority failed to respond to numerous calls from political forces, and public figures and failed to solve this issue on time, a year ago. After all, tardiness and the lack of determination in this matter have led to unnecessary complications. We also express our disappointment that another issue directly related to Constitutional Law left out of the Referendum agenda: the amendment of any article of the Constitution, at the angle of jurisprudence, the existence of an unreasonable and absurd function in the Constitution blocks the unlimited right. It is not accidental that such a provision was missing in 1995, doesn’t exist in the laws of democratic countries since the Constitution was adopted.

By considering the formation of the Constitutional Court as a necessary milestone in resolving the current political crisis, the Armenian National Congress is for the constitutional amendment proposed by the National Assembly and will actively participate in the referendum.

Being sure that this amendment only solves a specific issue of constitutional order, we insist that the current Constitution is not legal and that, if preserved, it will still bring many troubles to our country. We therefore reaffirm our demand for an entirely new constitution based on a model of governance established since independence, and declare that the solution of this issue should become a central issue on our state’s agenda for the coming period.”