Armenian PM’s proposal to meet with CC judges to discuss their tenure is anti-constitutional: Edmon Marukyan

“Head of executive power of any country of the world does not have right to call the judges to meet to discuss the issue of their tenure. It is an anti-constitutional proposal,” head of the Bright Armenia faction Edmon Marukyan said in the interview with RFE/RL.

He qualified the yesterday’s statement of Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the NA as threat addressed to the judges.

Marukyan said the speech was aimed at reaching resignation of the Constitutional Court judges through threats.

Head of the faction did not exclude that the referendum would not be conducted as after the yesterday’s speech, the judges may probably be afraid of becoming public target.

“Probably, the judges will listen the yesterday’s speech of Nikol Pashinyan, full of threats, and resign. It was definitely a threat. I do not exclude that these judges, who may not be afraid of police or thousands of other things, may be afraid of becoming public target,” the head of the opposition faction said, adding that they may become public target at the calls of these authorities.

At the yesterday’s extraordinary session of the NA, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan voiced tough and offensive statements in the address of the Constitutional Court president and 6 judges, urging them to resign before the president of the Republic signs bill on conduction of constitutional referendum the purpose of which is to cease their terms.

“I am ready to meet with all of you, without exclusions, separately or all together, to discuss this issue in details. I may personally ask you to do this step [resign], looking in your eyes, and pay tribute to you on behalf of the people for your assistance to the solution of the situation. If it is acceptable for you, fine, if it is not, I am sure the people of Armenia, the proud citizen of the Republic of Armenia will solve the issue, as the Constitution is for the people and not people are for the Constitution,” the Prime Minister stated.

In the same speech Armenia’s Prime Minister also stated that all those who would try to create legal or any other obstacles in the conduction of constitutional referendum “will get equivalent counterattack as anti-democratic, anti-state forces, while those who will accept people’s supreme authority, people’s supreme right will become the devotees erecting Armenia’s future.”