Today, on Constitution Day, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan renewed his call for the adoption of a new Armenian constitution, describing this issue as a “fundamental problem” facing the nation amidst ongoing demands from Azerbaijan for constitutional changes in Armenia as a being necesary for the siging of a peace deal between the two countries.
Pashinyan marked the 29th anniversary of Armenia’s current constitution, adopted via a 1995 referendum, claiming that it fails to reflect their idea of “the rules of living with his neighbor, his community, and other residents of his state.”
The Prime Minister first introduced the idea of a constitutional overhaul in 2020, two years into his tenure, citing a lack of trust among the Armenian people in the existing document. His initial efforts to organize a referendum for amending the constitution in April 2020 were indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent declaration of a state of emergency.
“We need a new Constitution, which the people will consider to be what they created, what they accepted, and what is written in it as their idea of the state they created and the relations between people and citizens in that state,” said Pashinyan, adding that the issue isn’t so much a new constitutional text, but “about the new method of its creation and adoption.”
Last week, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev reiterated that signing a peace treaty with Armenia is conditional on a constitutional change. Aliyev insists that the Armenian constitution makes territorial claims over Azerbaijan, citing a preamble that indirectly refers to a 1989 declaration on Artsakh’s reunification with Armenia and calls for the international recognition of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. The only legal route to such changes is through a new constitution enacted via a referendum.
These assertions by Aliyev are unfounded and akin to blackmail; they are essentially a way to exert pressure on Armenia under the guise of legal and diplomatic discourse.
Armenia’s opposition and Pashinyan critics argue that the PM’s push for a new constitution is a concession to Azerbaijani demands, viewing this move as evidence of Pashinyan succumbing to external pressures, a claim he and his political allies firmly deny.
In January of this year, Pashinyan again called for a new constitution, arguing it’s needed to make Armenia “more competitive and viable” in an ever-changing world and one that is not subject to “doubt.” He said Armenia needs a new constitution that reflects the “new geopolitical environment” in the region.
