Venice Commission Meeting Held; Armenian Representative is Close Friend of Hrayr Tovmasyan

According to the "Joughourdt" newspaper, on February 3, the president of the European Venice Commission, Gianni Buquicchio, made a statement regarding the situation surrounding the Constitutional Court of Armenia, calling on the parties to exhibit restraint and to ease tensions for the sake of the normal functioning of the Constitution. Prior to this, the PACE had also issued a cautionary statement.

The head of the PACE delegation, Ruben Rubinyan, said yesterday that nothing was being said against the authorities, and there is no need for exaggeration. In contrast, opposition figures Edmon Marukyan and Naira Zohrabyan expressed a completely different stance, stating that Europe is warning the authorities.

The newspaper learned that prior to Buquicchio's statement, a meeting of the Venice Commission had taken place where Armenia has representatives: former head of the Constitutional Court, Gagik Harutyunyan, as a main member, constitutional expert Vardan Poghosyan, who is a close friend of Constitutional Court President Hrayr Tovmasyan, as a deputy, and Ara Khzmalyan, who has been 'appointed' by the current government, as well as Vladimir Vardanyan, the chairman of the legal committee of the National Assembly from PACE.

While the roles of G. Harutyunyan and V. Poghosyan are clear, it is unclear what Ara Khzmalyan and Vladimir Vardanyan are doing in the professional commission of Venice. They are supposed to make the views and logic of the legitimate government of Armenia understandable and acceptable to international partners. However, it seems they have not succeeded in changing opinions.

Yesterday, the newspaper attempted to ascertain the reason. Vardanyan unequivocally did not answer our phone calls, while Ara Khzmalyan also refused to comment. It appears we are once again faced with a situation where people in Armenia are cutting lions, but 'abroad' they are unable to protect Armenia's interests.

As a result, we continuously experience 'attacks' from Europe, and once again, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is forced to intervene. Just the day before, he had a telephone conversation with the President of PACE.

For more details, see today’s issue of the newspaper.