In an interview with www.2rd.am, Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharian rejects claims that he is behind a recent Prosperous Armenia Party initiative to debate whether Armenia should move to a parliamentary system of government.

Q - Mr. Kocharyan, when the Prosperous Armenia Party proposed that discussions be held regarding the possibility of transforming the government of Armenia to a parliamentary system, i.e., holding parliamentary elections on a 100% proportional basis, cutting the powers of the president, etc, rumors began to circulate that you were behind the initiative. How true are the rumors?

A - Had I been a supporter of a parliamentary form of government, most likely such a system would have been in place starting in 2005, after the constitutional referendum initiated by the president himself.

A government can be run, either effectively or poorly, from the presidential office as well as by the prime minister.

On the international arena, such examples aren’t lacking. The question isn’t in the form of the government but in finding the correct balance of power, the execution of the political structure, and the maturity of civil society.

By the way, the constitutional referendum significantly widened the powers of the government. Nevertheless, for some strange reason, the role of the government has actually decreased.

The initiative of the Prosperous Armenia Party is more a response to the evident asymmetry of relations that has surface between the actual rights of various government institutions and constitutional responsibility.

The deficiency of the semi-presidential model can even be seen in advanced democratic nations.

I find the American model more favorable - -where the president heads the executive branch and is directly responsible for the economy, and where the legislature is granted powerful supervisory levers.

However, European traditions are traditions of parliamentarianism and we find ourselves in the scope of European political processes.

Furthermore, a parliamentary system of governance greatly reduces the aforementioned asymmetry.

Regarding a fully proportional electoral system, I must say that it aids the process of feudalization of the provinces, in the election districts. Moreover, the government, willingly or not, supports it, since it is inclined to reproduce itself. It is a very dangerous phenomenon and sooner we reject it the better.

This is the reason why the number of majoritarian MPs has decreased in Armenia. I regret that I failed to complete the process.

So let’s be clear on this. I have nothing to do with the Prosperous Party initiative.

Those who seek my shadow behind everything would be well advised to open their eyes in order to see that Prosperous Armenia is headed by a political team capable of drafting a political agenda on its own.

Source: www.2rd.am/hy/Nor-harcazruyc 

(The site bills itself as the unofficial website of Armenia’s second president)