YEREVAN. – Members of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia realize that they need to sacrifice a certain part of their powers, so as not to lose all of them. 

Secretary of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun Party National Assembly (NA) Faction, Aghvan Vardanyan, noted the above-said at a press conference on Tuesday. He noted this in connection with the proposed constitutional amendments in Armenia.

He recalled that the current Constitution empowers solely the President and the NA to introduce constitutional amendments in the country.

“I don’t know of a political force that gives up its [parliamentary] majority before elections, and decides to transfer its powers to the opposition,” Vardanyan stressed.

In his words, an excessively centralized system creates problems also with respect to accountability.

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, and conduct completely proportional parliamentary elections.

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