YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–The statement that was issued by the Presidential Human Rights Commission urges members of the National Assembly–in discharging the duties–to adhere to the principle that they are mediators between the voters and authorities.
Expressing their concern over the situation in the Parliament–the Commission points out that the Parliament’s inactivity is a violation of one of the fundamental human rights – the Constitutional right to participate in governing the state. "At the same time–Parliament members are civil servants and receive salaries," the statement says. The authors of the statement refer to Article 27 of the Constitution–according to which "Citizens of the Republic of Armenia who have attained the age of eighteen years are entitled to participate in government directly or through their freely elected representatives." This provision is based on Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as on Article 25 of the "International Pact on Political and Civil Rights"–according to which every citizen without any discriminations and ungrounded restrictions has the right to participate in government directly or through his freely elected representatives.