The “proposal”-bill of the National Assembly for judges of the Constitutional Court to receive pension adequate to salary in exchange of resignation is nothing but the crudest violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. This is stated in the statement issued by the Democratic Party of Armenia.

The statement also states the following:

“Moreover, to achieve the declared goal, the ruling party threatened to launch criminal prosecution, exerted psychological pressure beyond ethical norms and proposed a unique “bribe” to judges at the expense of taxpayers.

We condemn this working style since it contradicts the principles of establishment of the Constitutional Court by law. A judge of the Constitutional Court may resign only by absolute expression of his or her will, and this is enshrined in the Constitution.

If the ruling party itself is trying to relieve itself of judges of the Constitutional Court (the judges not submitting to its will) through coercion, threats and by promising “free” salaries and premiums, it is identifying itself with the former authorities that it has rejected.

In this situation, what stands out is the need for President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian to exercise his power as the head of state, and he has the power to forward the bill adopted by the National Assembly to the Constitutional Court to verify its compliance with the Constitution. If not, the President of Armenia will also share responsibility.

We fully hope the President conducts a professional analysis with impartial experts before making a decision.

We must not tolerate any desire, much less action to establish monarchy.”