Political Scientist: Armenia`s ruling party trying to legitimize Its  unconstitutional program through elections

ArmInfo.  Armenia's ruling Civil Contract party is attempting to legitimize its unconstitutional program through elections. Political scientist Suren Surenyants  shares a similar view.

On his Facebook page, the expert noted that the Civil Contract  party's election program calls for the "resignation" of the  Catholicos, followed by the election of a locum tenens, amendments to  the charter, and the election of a new Catholicos, presenting this as  a "reform" of the church. "This is not a reform program, but a  program of harsh political interference. The Constitution of the  Republic of Armenia clearly defines the separation of state and  church. This is a fundamental principle that precludes state  interference in the internal affairs of the church. The election or  resignation of the Catholicos falls under the exclusive jurisdiction  of the church. Under these circumstances, the inclusion of such a  provision in the ruling party's platform effectively means the  government is declaring its interference in the governance of the  church at the political level. This is already linked to the issue of  maintaining constitutional order," emphasized Suren Surenyants.

Furthermore, the political scientist points out that an attempt is  being made to legitimize this program through elections, presenting  it as an initiative that has gained "public trust." Thus, everything  is being done to transform the electoral mandate into a political  justification for steps that violate constitutional restrictions.  However, no election result can remove the boundaries established by  the RA Constitution. "In a democracy, elections provide a mandate for  political decisions, but they cannot overturn constitutional  prohibitions. In this situation, opposition response must be  systemic. First, it is necessary to clearly articulate the essence of  the problem on a political platform, presenting it as an attempt to  violate the constitutional order. Second, it is necessary to apply a  range of legal instruments, raising the question of the  constitutionality of government statements and possible actions  through the relevant bodies. Third, it is necessary to create a broad  public and expert community to establish that this is a violation of  state-church relations, which is dangerous for the state system.  Finally, the opposition must be able to turn this issue into a matter  of political responsibility, forcing the government to provide a  clear response to its programmatic statements," the political  scientist concluded.