YEREVAN. – The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) will speak about its candidate for country’s next leader solely when the draft constitutional amendments will be adopted.
Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, who is RPA Vice-Chairman, on Saturday told the aforesaid to reporters in Gyumri city.
“The constitutional reforms are still in progress; we’ll talk about it when it’s adopted by the people” said the PM.
Chapters 1 through 7 of the new draft Constitution of Armenia were made public on July 15. Accordingly, the country will make a transition from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary system of governance.
The draft Constitution is expected to be completed by early August. Subsequently, the draft shall be submitted to the President. If approved, it will be introduced to the National Assembly, and then a Referendum Day will be set. Respective political and professional debates are planned to be held during that period.
The draft constitutional reform specifies that the Prime Minister will actually become the leader of Armenia, and the political party forming a majority in the National Assembly will nominate this person.
Incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan, however, has announced that he does not plan on running for the offices of either the PM, or the President, or the National Assembly President.