“In negotiations with Azerbaijan, we state that we will not discuss the issue of our constitution with any external entity,” Pashinian told the Armenian parliament.
“The issue of adopting a new constitution was included in our pre-election program as well as in the government’s program,” he said, answering a question from an opposition lawmaker. “The text will be published soon, and we will also begin discussions regarding it with the parliament.”
Baku makes the signing of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty initialed in Washington last year conditional on a change of the current Armenia constitution. It objects to the constitution’s preamble referring to a 1990 declaration of independence, which in turn cites a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The only legal way to remove that reference is to adopt a new constitution in a referendum. The Armenian Justice Ministry drafted it early this year. The still unpublicized text reportedly contains no such reference.
It has to be approved by at least two-thirds of the parliament’s deputies before being put on a referendum. Pashinian’s Civil Contract party fell short of such a majority in disputed parliamentary elections held on June 7.
The two opposition groups represented in the National Assembly have vowed to block the referendum. They remain strongly opposed to the change which they say is imposed by Baku. Pashinian said last week that he may initiate a fresh election because of that.
Speaking during his government’s latest question-and-answer session in the parliament, the premier complained about Azerbaijani leaders’ statements reaffirming Baku’s precondition.
“Sometimes one gets the impression that such statements are made to incite domestic political instability [in Armenia,]” he said. “Those statements feed the opposition.”
Armenian opposition leaders maintain that Baku would not be satisfied with the change of the constitution and would demand further unilateral concessions from Pashinian that would jeopardize Armenia’s very existence as a viable state.