YEREVAN. – Following Armenia’s presidential elections in 2013, they probably will set out to carry out constitutional changes and a referendum to replace presidential governance with parliamentary, Hraparak daily writes.   

“And this is one of those unique cases when the second and third [incumbent] presidents’ approach coincide. [But] The motivations are different. The second President [Robert Kocharyan], according to sources close to him, will not run in [20]13, but he will do everything so that the forces he coordinates receive the votes necessary to be able to solve the PM’s matter. The constitutional changes will enable the ‘newly-elect’ PM to smoothly resolve the matter of ‘being appointed’ PM in 2018, [and] in a parliamentary country.

And Russia likewise has a ‘share’ in the project of constitutional changes. It, too, wishes for Armenia to pass to parliamentary governance, [it wishes] to solve the issue of Armenia’s PM without ‘consulting’ with the West.

[And incumbent] President Serzh Sargsyan has his own calculations as well. He attempts to include the [Prosperous Armenia Party] PAP in this game. During the days of the talks over entering the [ruling] coalition, he informed [PAP leader] Gagik Tsarukyan about the expected constitutional changes, he said Tsarukyan could become Deputy PM at that time. They say Tsarukyan was forced to decline from this offer,” Hraparak writes.