YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. After the Constitutional reforms Armenia has entered a parliamentary system of governance where the role and significance of parties is extremely important, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov said during the parliamentary discussions of the draft law on “Parties”, reports “Armenpress”.

“Of course, the parliamentary system should bring with it certain corrections concerning the role of the parties and their work. We have numerous problems in this sector which need to be solved”, Sharmazanov said.  

He said it is necessary to take two steps for the quick development of the parties. “It is necessary to create equal opportunities and conditions for all parties. This is one of the golden rules of democracy. The second step is there must be free competitive conditions for all parties. If we speak about democracy and want our people live in a democratic society, and we consider ourselves as representatives of the democratic parliament, we must first of all understand that democracy is a free and open competition, thus we must not create artificial obstacles for parties which want to be a part of that competition”, he said.

Sharmazanov presented the steps that must be taken for tackling the problems. He said the MPs must quickly adopt a law which will rule out artificial, bureaucratic problems.

“We should take the road to liberalization as much as possible. There is no need to create a new bicycle, there is quite a successful experience and for Armenia we must consider the experience of the countries of the post-Soviet space such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Ukraine. If we look at the experience of those countries, we will see that a dramatic liberalization is going on there. In a country with 150 million people like Russia, only 40.000 members are enough to hold a convention and establish a party. We are going in this path. Instead of the current law, we define by this draft that 1000, rather 2000 members will be necessary for registering a party. If we had structures in all provinces and communities, now it is being cut”, Sharmazanov said.

Sharmazanov said it is necessary to have certain restrictions, which must be reasonable and logical. “If we want to be engaged in politics, and I and Mr. Baghdasaryan decide to establish a party, only our such decision is not enough. This is typical for NGOs. We must gradually reach the point in order the parties, that are not taking part in the parliament’s works, to be dissolved by their own. Otherwise, if a political force is not taking part in the parliamentary elections, local elections, in this case what is the meaning of that party?”he said, stating that it is necessary to go to the gradual empowerment of the parties, however it must not be done by creating artificial obstacles.