Dashnaks Warn Against Failure Of Constitutional Ammendments
RFE/RL reports that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation - Dashnaktsutyun(ARF-D), a junior member of the ruling three-party coalition government, have warned that failure to adopt the constitutional ammendments due to be put to the public in a referendum tentatively scheduled for 20 November will frustrate Armenia’s integration into Europe. Armen Rustamian, one of the party’s senior members, has said that it would “lead the Council of Europe and the European Union to conclude that Armenians are unwilling to embrace “European values.”
Rustamian also argued that Armenia’s controversial post-Soviet constitution, widely criticized for giving disproportionate powers to the president of the republic, is a serious obstacle to its democratization. Dashnaktsutyun, which has co-authored the proposed changes along with two other parties represented in government, had opposed the constitution’s enactment in 1995 when it was in opposition to the then Armenian leadership.
Others such as Stepan Demirchyan, Vazgen Manoukian and Raffi Hovannisian, however, have argued that Armenians should instead either boycott the referendum or vote against the ammendments. They argue that the present government lacks the legitimacy to ammend a constitution that does not function not because it is flawed but because there is the lack of the rule of law in Armenia.
But the Armenian opposition insists that the amendments would not significantly curtail the sweeping presidential powers. Opposition leaders also believe that far important is the enforcement of the existing laws that provide for free elections and human rights. They have pledged to join forces to scuttle the passage of the proposed constitutional changes. The opposition views the referendum also as an opportunity to make another attempt to topple the ruling regime.
Ironically, regardless of what the opposition or the government might say, a sizeable number of Armenians remain apathetic towards the proposed changes and are unlikely to turn out unless the government starts a campaign to raise awareness and promote discussion in society.
Opinion polls suggest that winning sufficient popular backing for the amendments will be an uphill task for the Kocharian administration. But Rustamian said he believes the authorities can convince a majority of Armenians to vote for them, indicating that Dashnaktsutyun has already drawn up a relevant plan of action. He declined to unveil it now.
“When campaigning gets underway Dashnaktsutyun will come up its comprehensive and clear opinion on what it expects from that constitution, what its approaches and tactic are,” said Rustamian.
Interestingly, the Council of Europe and the United States believe that the proposed changes are crucial to facilitate Armenia’s democratization. The full item can be read online here.
I haven’t really seen any coverage of the proposed constitution in the print media. If any of the sides (the pro and con) wants to further their idea as to why is it important to adopt or reject the new constitution, they should come up with a comparison of the new versus old in a FAQ style coverage.
It helps very little to announce that if we don’t(or do) accept then we will be doomed.
It’s the Armenian citizens that have to live with the constitution and not the politicians and pundits abroad.
While I agree with the opposition that the real problem of the current constitution is its non-enforcement, I should also advise them to get over the ‘illegitimacy’ of the current government and move on.
Comment by nazarian — September 22, 2005 @ 6:26 pm
Carnival Of Revolutions
There has been some big news from the Axis of Evil this week, as good cop North Korea announces plans to renounce its nuclear weapons, while the International Atomic Energy Agency is referring bad cop Iran to the UN Security Council for its intransig…
Trackback by Am I A Pundit Now? — September 26, 2005 @ 3:39 pm