Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Getting rid of the dictatorship of ex-president Serj Sargsyan, the Armenian society was relieved for a while in expectation of improvement in both in politics and in the economic situation. However, Armenia showed by its example that the dictatorship worn in democracy is no less destructive for the nation in fact.

Within a year and a half of the revolution Armenia lacks any euphoria on the background of grey days and absolute hopelessness. The dictatorship traditional for Armenia’s state structure simply changed its image, but the essence remained the same.

From the very beginning of his reign, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan neither implemented a single serious project nor fulfilled a single promise he made. Everything had erupted into empty rhetoric about democracy, although a rigid and even more open dictatorship of one person was established in the country compared to under the previous regime. Pashinyan’s only desire is to revenge the former Armenian authorities and he has drawn the whole country into this nasty process.

The draft decision on terminating the authorities of the chairman of the Constitutional Court (CC) Hrayr Tovmasyan was approved for further consideration. According to the results of the closed voting on October 14, 98 lawmakers backed the decision, and one lawmaker voted against. In the near future, the issue should be discussed in the CC. To make a decision, the votes of six judges are needed, whilst experts consider it will be an uneasy task for Pashinyan to get them.

Meanwhile, Armenian media recently reported that the desire of the current Armenian authorities to get rid of Tovmasyan and, in general, of the current CC staff, and to form a constitutional court submissive to Pashinyan, is getting more and more fantastic. The report urges that there is a clear order to get rid of Tovmasyan and other independent judges by putting pressure on their relatives and to force them to resign. If the pressure will not bear fruits, criminal proceedings will be initiated.

The Constitution Court, chaired by Tovmasyan, decided to stop in July 2019 the case of ex-president Robert Kocharyan and applied to the European Court of Human Rights and the Venice Commission for an advisory opinion on a number of issues related to the Kocharyan’s case. In September, the CC declared the ex-president’s opinion unconstitutional, since he was constitutionally empowered with a right to inviolability.

Kocharyan's case dates back to late February and early March 2008 following the disputed presidential election, when the then prime minister Serj Sargsyan was declared the winner, frustrating the opposition, that was led by the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan who set off 10 days of nonstop protests that led to a crackdown on March 1, in which 10 people were killed and more than 200 injured.

The PM got mad, but he did not dare to call for blocking the courts, as it was in May 2019, whilst Pashinyan did not refrain from revenge.

So, the Armenian authorities made a political decision move on to more radical steps after the CC rejects the document submitted by the parliament.

The actions are expected to block the CC and boycott its work. The aim of the authorities is to force Tovmasyan to resign from its position at all costs so that Vahe Grigorya, who is close to Pashinyan, becomes the CC chairman.

Despite permissiveness, Pashinyan’s hands are still bound by certain circumstances. First, the situation around the CC is focused on the attention of international structures, including the Venice Commission. Second, today it will be difficult for him to bring together a crowd ready for any lawlessness at his call, in view of the rapid decline in his rating.

In this situation, Pashinyan will no longer be able to hide behind the backs of the crowd. In current conditions he could hardly gather hundreds of thousands of protestors. Highly probably that these people might rise up against him. After all, he flushed in the toilet all his promises, both negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh, and the hopes of the Armenians for a better life.

Tovmasyan’s impeachment resolution “On Applying to the Constitutional Court Requesting to Terminate Constitutional Court Judge (Member) Hrayr Tovmasyan’s Duties” was introduced by the ruling My Step bloc and seeks to formally request the Constitutional Court to oust him as Member/Judge, terminating his powers.

Tovmasyan was elected to the Constitutional Court as a member (judge) by the previous parliament. The ruling My Step bloc questions Tovmasyan's objectiveness and argue that he should step down due to his ties to the former government.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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