YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. Member of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia Kim Balayan considers the new draft Constitution a step forward. According to him the new draft suggests making transition to parliamentary system of government which corresponds to the provisions of the Armenian Declaration of Independence unlike the current Constitution. Moreover, according to Kim Balayan democratic principles will be on more solid foundation with the adoption of the draft Constitution and one of the basic provisions of the Constitution; in the Republic of Armenia the power belongs to the people, will be put into practice. “It is clearly stated in the 3rd article of the Armenian Declaration of Independence that the right to speak on behalf of the people of the Republic of Armenia belongs exclusively to the Supreme Council of Armenia. So we can say that the Constitution adopted by the Republic of Armenia in 1995 was illegal as it was decided to adopt presidential system ignoring the provision of the Armenian Declaration of Independence that the right to speak on behalf of the people of the Republic of Armenia belongs exclusively to the Supreme Council of Armenia. In 2005 the Constitution was changed but the changes were not so significant as the presidential form of government was preserved. The draft Constitution suggests making transition to parliamentary system of government which I consider another step forward. Besides, the new draft establishes that the people can put any issue to referendum upon their own initiative if 150 thousand signatures are gathered. The current Constitution provides the people with no such possibility.”, “Armenpress” reports that Kim Balayan emphasized the latter during his meeting with the journalists on August 31.