Parliamentary system envisages greater accountability and transparency: Armenian President

The parliamentary system of governance envisages greater accountability and transparency, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan told representatives of Armenian TV Companies.

“Under the new Constitution the Prime Minister will be obliged to go to the National Assembly together with the government at least twice a month to publicly answer the questions,” he said.

“Today the President of the Republic does not bear direct political responsibility. When the President wins the elections, he’s not obliged to go to the Parliament, to contact with journalists or give public explanations. His responsibility is rather of moral character,” the President said, adding that “under the new Constitution the government and the Prime Minister will bear immediate political responsibility.”

President Sargsyan said “it’s naïve to think that Armenia will become a paradise a week after the Constitutional changes pass, to think that all economic issues will be solved, and we’ll feel happy. That’s not the case. But by accepting the Constitutional changes, we’ll eliminate the obstacles, and afterwards it will depend on our work how we’ll live and what kind of law-enforcement system we’ll have. It’s impossible to create good conditions without the participation of all members of our society, we all have to be ready to participate. Constitution is not meant to improve the living standards of the common citizen. Constitution is meant to provide the citizen with an opportunity to improve its living,” President Sargsyan noted.