YEREVAN. – The issue of chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Onik Gasparyan, cannot be left unresolved until a referendum on a possible transition to a semi-presidential system of government. Alen Simonyan, the National Assembly vice-speaker elected from the ruling My Step bloc of Armenia, on Tuesday told this to reporters in parliament.

According to him, the proposal to transition to a semi-presidential system of government in Armenia is not connected with the ongoing processes around the General Staff.

The representative of the ruling political force claimed that a vacuum arises when the head of state wants to dismiss an official, whereas the semi-presidential system has both restraint and counterbalance mechanisms.

"The need to change the system of government [in Armenia] stems from the situations we face in parliament. Also, the semi-presidential system is more convenient because the same EEU and the CSTO are, in fact, ‘presidential clubs.’ The process, as [PM Nikol] Pashinyan said, can start in October, while the processes related to these provisions which can be changed without a referendum will start in the parliament," Simonyan added.