Approaching the anniversary celebration (July 5) of Armenia’s constitution, Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan held a press conference today to say that while he considers the document democratic he would prefer changes in it that strengthen the institution of parliamentarianism and the functions of the Constitutional Court.

Looking back on 15 years of the republic’s constitution, Armenia’s defender of citizen rights also said that given the choice he would have also ensured true independence of the judiciary from political authorities.

Harutyunyan thinks that such changes would have led to a more legitimate election process and would have made it more difficult to avoid the mechanism of checks and balances.

(Armenia’s Basic Law was adopted through a public referendum in 1995 and was later overhauled in a referendum in 2005.)

Despite the fact that the Constitution stipulates plurality of opinions, free economic competition and enshrines human rights as the paramount value, violation of the norms of the Constitution are not uncommon in Armenia, according to ombudsman.

“There is no free economic competition in Armenia, monopolies prevail. There is a need to get rid of the oligarchic economic system, since it is this system that prevents the normal formation of other sectors,” says Harutyunyan.

As a law specialist Harutyunyan says it is not always that the Constitution reflects the level of legal thought, but it more often reflects the culture of political relations.

“Lawyers prepare (arguments) and essentially submit them to a public referendum by political forces. And here it is not always that lawyers are satisfied with the outcomes of the processes. But what we have is sufficient for us to ensure democratic development,” explains Harutyunyan.

According to Ombudsman Harutyunyan, Armenia has problems realizing democracy, but the constitution should not be held accountable for poor execution.

“Who is to blame? Everyone is responsible, as the political system in our country is single – both the government and the opposition share the same political culture. All forces of the political spectrum are responsible and civil society is to blame because does not actively fight against it. At its very first failed attempt [of waging such struggle] the civil society starts to indulge in grumbling, saying: this is not a good country, it is impossible to live here,” says Harutyunyan.

While Harutyunyan says that the public trusts the Constitution of Armenia, at the same time he notes that complaints of 80 percent of people who turn to his office are related with the violation of their constitutional rights.