YEREVAN. – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan congratulated the Republican Party of Armenia, Tsarukyan bloc of political parties, Yelk (Way Out) bloc of political parties, and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation on assuming their share of political responsibility for the Republic of Armenia for the next five years. 

According to him, transition to parliamentary system of governance will save from confrontation (PHOTOS).

“I congratulate all participants of the first session of the 6th National Assembly and wish you productive work,” added the President. 

“Two years ago, when the concept of the RA constitutional reforms was being approved, I was confident that soon we would enter a groundbreaking period of time which would be promising but also challenging. That day has come, and I congratulate us all on that occasion. And I congratulate you, dear parliamentarians, twofold since on this critical stage you are to make the first and most important step towards the establishment of a new state system of governance. We all realize that there is much work to be done but we have resolve, great optimism, and enduring experience of many years to bring our task to a successful end.  

“Certainly, the laws pertaining to the priority functions of the Parliament have already been created, the laws which should not only be legally correct but also functional and coherent. Constitutional reforms cannot be fully carried out without such laws. Some would say, it’s better to have a deficient law than no law at all. It is a minimalistic approach, and for me it is unacceptable. At this most serious period of time, when the country is going through legal and political changes, we cannot afford such luxury. Deficient or bad laws are not only inapplicable but also harmful. Your mission is to create laws which will meet the expectations of the public; you, as the main actors of this process, are responsible for the task.

“However, activities of the legislature are not limited to adopting legislation. Transition to the parliamentary system of governance, which is stipulated by the changes introduced to the RA Constitution, entails a considerably greater role of the parliament also in foreign policy issues.  

“International parliamentary organizations are the best and probably the largest platform for introducing different idea to the international community and presenting the views of the Armenian side. It is necessary to conduct active politics in the framework of that platform to reduce the number of the anti-Armenian resolutions and projects regularly instigated by Azerbaijan, promoting instead the truth.  

“It is expedient to re-organize our parliamentary diplomacy to make it more efficient laying its foundation on the following principles: participation, initiative, partnership, constant ongoing work, accountability, coordination, personal responsibility, continuity, and consistency. This is indeed a vast and important area of work, which we will revisit later.”