ARKA News Agency
July 28 2005
RA OMBUDSPERSON: RA CONSTITUTION SHOULD CONTAIN PROVISIONS RELATING
TO AT LEAST TWO BODIES THAT REGULATE THE AREA OF TELE-AND RADIO
BROADCAST
YEREVAN, July 28. /ARKA/. RA constitution should contain provisions
relating to at least two bodies that regulate the area of tele-and
radio broadcast: National Commission on Television and Radio and the
Council of RA Public Television Company of Armenia, as RA
Ombudsperson Larisa Alaverdyan said. According to her, RA NA “as
elected body, capable of ensuring pluralism of opinions and
representation of various strata of society” should actively
participate in their formation. Most optimal of the existing variants
is the mechanism, according to which the list of both candidates for
the members of the National Commission on Television and Radio, and
members of the Council of Public Television are presented by RA NA
and approved by the president of the country. According to her, the
new staff of regulatory body should be formed at once after adoption
of the project of constitutional changes.
According to the ombudsperson, for the country that chose democracy
and European values as the way for development of the country, it’s
especially important to be adhered to the ideals of freedom of word
and press, in regard with which it’s necessary to make amendments to
the RA constitution. “I welcome the long-term cooperation with the
Commission of the Council of Europe “Democracy through Law ”
(Venetian Commission), the goal of which is to perfect the project of
constitutional changes”, she said. However, according to her, the
provisions of the last version of project of constitutional reforms
telling about the order of formation of the bodies regulating
television and radio, submitted to the Commission, cause anxiety. “In
terms of a developing country like Armenia, the sphere of television
and radio broadcast has special importance. From this standpoint the
principle and mechanisms of formation of bodies regulating the
sphere, which mostly ensure independent and free mass media in the
country, are important”, according to the press release. In words of
the Ombudsperson, the provisions will hardly contribute to solution
of the problem. “I am sure that the mentioned principles stipulated
in the constitution will become the basis, which will enable
formation of free and independent media in Armenia, guaranteeing
adherence to human rights and access to objective and comprehensive
information”, the ombudsperson said. A.H.–0-