A change of Armenia’s existing constitution is Azerbaijan’s main precondition for signing an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty initialed in Washington in August. Baku specifically wants Yerevan to remove a constitutional preamble that mentions Armenia’s 1990 declaration of independence, which in turn cites a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. The only legal way to do that is to adopt a new constitution through a referendum.
While publicly rejecting this precondition and insisting that the reference does not amount to territorial claims to Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has pledged to enact a new constitution. He said in September that it will be put on a referendum after Armenia’s next general elections due in June 2026.
The new constitution is to be drafted by the Constitutional Reform Council headed by Justice Minister Srbuhi Galian. The latter said in November that the text will be ready “by March.”
Artur Sakunts, a human rights activist sitting on the council, insisted that it will definitely fail to meet the deadline set by Galian. Sakunts told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that he believes the drafting process will not be completed even before the June elections. Galian already pledged last April to fast-track the process.
Sakunts said the body dominated by state officials has yet to discuss key chapters of the would-be constitution relating to the executive and judicial branches of government. Nor has it addressed so far the thorny issue of the 1990 declaration, added the activist.
Pashinian said last year that the declaration resented by Baku must not be referenced in the new constitution. He has since continued to deny bowing to Azerbaijani pressure.
Armenian opposition groups have dismissed these assurances and pledged to scuttle the change of the constitution sought by Pashinian. They say that his continuing unilateral concessions only encourage Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to make more demands on Armenia and will not bring real peace.