Deputy of the My Step faction of the National Assembly of Armenia, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan touched upon the statement by President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio today on his Facebook page.

“President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio issued a statement expressing his concern about the open conflict involving the Constitutional Court of Armenia. He recalled the recommendations made in the opinion of the Venice Commission that any early retirement scheme at the Constitutional Court has to remain truly voluntary and exclude any undue political and personal pressure on the judges concerned. He added that recent public statements and acts do not meet these criteria and will not be conducive to deescalating the situation.

At the end of his statement, Mr. Buquicchio called again on all sides to exercise restraint and to de-escalate this worrying situation in order to ensure the normal operation of the constitution of Armenia.

As in the case of the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), I share Mr. Buquicchio’s concern about the tension of institutions in Armenia. I believe the tension and crisis caused as a result of the activities of Hrayr Tovmasyan must be resolved as soon as possible, and the spirit of the existing Constitution needs to be restored.

I believe it is important that Mr. Buquicchio recalled that the early retirement scheme has to be voluntary. I believe some of the recent statements and actions, including those of the president and certain members of the Constitutional Court and representatives of the personnel of the Constitutional Court, as well as various types of oppositional politicians may be perceived as political and personal pressure on the members of the Constitutional Court who can benefit from the early retirement scheme,” he wrote.