YEREVAN. – The parliamentary model of Armenia shall not to repeat the risks of the Georgian model.

Ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MP Artak Zakaryan, who is also Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, noted the above-said at a press conference on Saturday. He said this reflecting on the proposed draft constitutional amendments of Armenia.

As per Zakaryan, the risks arising from the Georgian model are due to the fact that both the Parliament and the President have the primary mandate, and therefore, in case of disagreements between them, conflicts may come up that are difficult to resolve.

“Our [i.e. Armenia’s] model is closer to the model of the Israeli parliament, since we directly elect solely the parliament,” the RPA MP stated. “This means a full-scale conflict should not arise.”

The referendum on Armenia’s draft constitutional amendments is slated for December 6.

Pursuant to the new draft Constitution, the country will make a transition from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary system of governance.

The opponents of the proposed constitutional amendments, however, consider them to be primarily the authorities’ attempt to hang on to power.