Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

The Armenian authorities are pursuing their own interest and this has sparked a growing public unrest across the country.

Armenia's former President Levon Ter Petrosyan (1991-1998) has called for civil disobedience against the current authorities who - according to him- have led the country to the abyss of collapse.

"President Serzh Sargsyan is taking steps in the direction of Armenia's destruction," he said in an article published in local media. "In short term, we must get rid of the current authorities. People should rally against them and change the power."

Ter Petrosyan believes that Sargsyan is influenced by the interests of his regime which are in direct contradiction with the nation's interests.

He further said, the constitutional reforms, which the authorities have put on public discussions, are aimed at strengthening the regime's grip on power.

The authorities have developed some draft constitutional reforms to improve the current government system. The draft reforms call for transition to a parliamentary system as an alternative.

The opposition parliamentary fractions also believe that there is no need for constitutional reforms at the moment. "The authorities need constitutional transformations to preserve their own power," they said.

Armenian National Congress and Heritage Party have already refused to attend the debates on the constitutional reforms.

The opposition parties believe that the current constitution enables them to build a democratic state, but the authorities lack the political will to implement it.

There is no political or social demand for constitutional reforms in Armenia. These reforms can be considered as authorities' tactic to distract the community from the complicated socio-economic situation in the country.