President Armen Sarkissian on Friday urged Armenia’s leading political actors to exercise restraint in their heated debates on judicial reforms planned by the government and other major issues.
“I am hopeful that the ongoing and future developments will not only promote the efficiency of the judicial reforms but also the improvement of all areas of the state and public administration, mutual understanding and broader cooperation between the public and the authorities,” he said in a written address to the nation.
“We need to realize that not only the goal is important but also the means to achieve it,” read the carefully worded statement. “Let’s make disagreements and problems the topic of our discussions but never the individuals.”
“In order to move forward, often it is expedient to take a little break, to muse once again over the task ahead,” added Sarkisian, who has largely ceremonial powers. “Let’s realize that today we need unity, stability, ability to see the future, a vision as well as concrete programs.”
The head of state appeared to allude to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s deepening dispute with Armenia’s Constitutional Court and its chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian, in particular.
Pashinian launched a scathing attack on Tovmasian in an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service last week. He accused Tovmasian of cutting political deals with former President Serzh Sarkisian to “privatize” the country’s highest court through constitutional amendments that took effect in April 2018.
“The Constitutional Court must get out of this status of a privatized booth,” the premier said, implicitly demanding changes in the court’s composition. In that regard, he did not exclude that his administration will initiate constitutional changes in order to “resolve the situation around the Constitutional Court.”
Tovmasian, who previously served as a senior lawmaker representing Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK), rejected the harsh criticism as offensive and baseless. He warned the Armenian government against trying to force him and other members of the court to resign.
Pashinian also signaled support for Vahe Grigorian, the Constitutional Court’s newest judge elected by the Armenian parliament in June. Citing the amended constitution, Grigorian has challenged the legitimacy of Tovmasian and six other members of the court appointed before the “Velvet Revolution” of April-May 2018.
Grigorian’s stance has been backed by some of Pashinian’s political allies but strongly condemned by opposition politicians, notably senior HHK figures. The latter have also accused President Sarkissian of turning a blind eye to what they see as illegal government pressure on courts.
In his statement, Sarkissian said he is “following closely numerous pronounced statements, opinions, viewpoints, appeals to act, and appeals regarding these appeals.” But he argued that the constitution bars him from “becoming part of the ongoing dispute.”
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