Today, President Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly. At the beginning of the meeting, the President of the Republic noted that although he regularly meets with the Speaker of the National Assembly and other deputies, the meeting in such a format is unprecedented and aims to focus mainly on the large volume of work to be carried out under the conditions of the new governance system after the amendments to the Constitution, on a number of topical issues that concern everyone, bearing in mind that he spoke in detail about his vision of the National Assembly’s activities in his extensive speech on May 18 of last year, and he will not refer to the provisions of that address again. RA informs about this from the press service of the president.
After the speech of the President of the Republic, Ara Babloyan presented the activities carried out during the activities of the 6th convocation of the National Assembly in order to ensure the full and effective implementation of the powers assigned to the National Assembly by the Constitution, to ensure the normal functioning of the National Assembly and increase its efficiency, the hearings held in the parliament on the most important and current issues of public interest, the results of the activity of standing committees and factions during the mentioned period, including the activation of parliamentary diplomacy.
The President of the Parliament, his deputies and the other deputies present at the meeting – the leaders of the “Republican Party of Armenia”, “Armenian Revolutionary Federation”, “Tsarukyan” factions and the chairmen of the standing committees presented their views and recommendations during the discussion on the issues highlighted by the President of the Republic and the upcoming tasks, the priority directions of the work of the National Assembly under the parliamentary system of government, as well as the existing problems and challenges.
The parliamentarians agreed that the political forces represented in the National Assembly have always shown unity in the most important issues for the state and united their forces both during work in international parliamentary structures and in issues related to the country’s defense and security. Among the problems requiring a priority solution, they emphasized the need to take steps to strengthen the analytical and expert capabilities of the NA staff, improve the quality of work of friendship groups with different countries.
President Sargsyan spoke with satisfaction about the work carried out by the parliament during the 6th convocation of the National Assembly, emphasizing at the same time that one should not be satisfied with what has been done, but it is necessary to maintain the pace of work so that all existing problems are given the necessary legislative solutions at the right time.
“President Serzh Sargsyan’s speech
During the meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly
Honorable President of the National Assembly,
Dear colleagues of the legislative power,
This meeting is somewhat unprecedented. Although I regularly meet with the Speaker of the National Assembly and other deputies, I considered it necessary to organize a meeting today in this format. I have thoroughly presented my vision of the National Assembly’s activities in a lengthy speech on May 18 of last year, and naturally today I will not repeat the provisions of that message, but I will focus on other issues that concern all of us.
We have been assigned a unique mission in the direction of transforming Armenia’s governance system. From April 9, the Republic of Armenia is transitioning to a parliamentary government system, and I must say that I am satisfied with the work carried out by the National Assembly in this direction. since May 18 of last year, you have passed 286 laws, 15 of which are completely new laws.
These are good and, of course, positive trends, however, we should not simply record this indicator and be satisfied with what has been done. We are obliged to maintain this pace of work in order to be able to provide necessary legislative solutions to all existing problems at the right time.
There is still a tremendous amount of legislative work to be done in a short period of time, so efficiency becomes critical. The Judicial Code must be reformed and complete, new laws must be adopted about the Constitutional Court, the government, the Security Council, and we must complete this transition period successfully, and the measure of success in this case will be a smooth, smooth and transition process.
Dear colleagues,
The past eight months of your work have shown that the National Assembly is indeed the central and main platform of social and political processes in Armenia. This circumstance was fully reflected not only in the plenary sessions of the National Assembly, but also in the work of the standing committees, as well as during the parliamentary hearings.
An important role is assigned to the new body formed as a result of the constitutional amendments, the Council of the National Assembly. It should develop and strengthen, significantly contributing to the effective organization of your work.
The National Assembly should act as an important platform for dialogue and joint work between the majority and the minority. In this regard, as in all democracies of the world, not everything is going smoothly. Sometimes not only the opposition, but also the representatives of the ruling power give way to emotions and inflame the atmosphere in plenary sessions, but these are normal problems of democratic development and growth, which, I am sure, will calm down with time.
I should mention here that I appreciate the consistency and patience of the Speaker of the National Assembly in his interactions with some deputies. In all cases, we must continue to strengthen tolerance and mutual respect in the unfolding political discussions. The representatives of the ruling power should be more reserved, given their status.
In this future-oriented transition period, the problems of daily life and socio-economic development of the country should not escape our attention. A few days ago, I convened a meeting on inflation of individual products and solutions to mitigate its consequences. Parliament should keep its hand on the pulse of the country, and this is natural. The National Assembly has already held several remarkable parliamentary hearings, and it may be worth organizing similar hearings on this issue so that the issue can be thoroughly discussed in public and people can see the realities. See for yourself, but I think it might be useful.
I hope that the work of parliamentary diplomacy will not suffer during this period, whether they are multilateral structures or bilateral cooperation. Of course, we will have occasions to discuss this issue thoroughly. If you want, we can address these issues today, if not, during future discussions. At the end of the year, in December, the third global forum “Against the Crime of Genocide” will take place, in the organization and conduct of which, according to tradition, the National Assembly should make its unique contribution.
In general, it is obvious that we have recorded an increase in the quality of the Parliament’s work. Armenia needs a parliament that not only adopts all the necessary laws at the right time, but also implements effective parliamentary control. In this regard, I think that the National Assembly is on the right track.
At the same time, the staff of the National Assembly is being strengthened. In the future, the staff of the President of the Republic will not be significantly involved in the process of drafting and proofreading the legislation, so the lion’s share of responsibility will fall on the staff of the Parliament itself. This is also a very important circumstance, and we should be very attentive to this.
The staff of the National Assembly should also provide expert support not only in drafting legislation, but also in exercising parliamentary control over the executive power.
The Republic of Armenia is entering a serious political period. The National Assembly must elect the fourth president of the Republic of Armenia by March 9 of this year. I hope that all deputies of the National Assembly will approach these elections provided for by the new constitutional procedure with full responsibility. And of course, it is desirable that the President of the Republic be elected in the conditions of extensive parliamentary agreement.
By March 9 of this year, the National Assembly should also elect the members of the Supreme Judicial Council. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this body, given the powers assigned to it in guaranteeing the independence of courts and judges. This body will be crucial for the future of our country.
In the coming months, it will also be necessary to fill the vacant positions in the Constitutional Court. The National Assembly should also appoint the members of the newly created autonomous body, the Corruption Prevention Commission. There is no need to explain how important it is for the future of our country and economy to fight this evil.
And, of course, after April 9, the National Assembly should also elect the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.
I have outlined some milestones on our road map to a new governance system. Today it may be worth focusing and reflecting on the developments that will take place until mid-March or early April. I expect you to be active and relaxed in this discussion.
This year we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the restoration of Armenia’s independent statehood, and we are responsible not only for contemporaries, but also for the history of Armenia and the memory of the heroes of the May battles. I am sure that awareness of this circumstance will accompany us in the coming months.
Thank you for your attention, now let’s move on to discussions.”
Let’s remind that the National Assembly faction of the Exit Alliance boycotted this meeting and called on the leadership of the National Assembly not to participate. Serzh Sargsyan close to the consultation.
“I think that starting the year 2018, which was announced as the year of the transition to the parliamentary system of governance, with a meeting that contradicts the spirit and logic of that announcement, casts doubt on the already dubious process of transitioning to the parliamentary system of governance. “No one has the right and should not have the opportunity to call the Council of the National Assembly to him, and I consider such practices offensive to the country’s highest legislative body,” stated the leader of the RA NA ELK faction. Nkol Pashinyan։