The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, has expressed readiness to hold double referendums if the citizens do not approve the draft of the new Constitution at the first attempt. The main goal of the reform is to abandon the reference to the Declaration of Independence and the concept of “historical justice”, which, according to the head of government, is vital for the preservation of statehood in the face of current geopolitical challenges.

During the government briefing held on March 26, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the ruling power will manage to explain and convince the public of the need for these changes. Pashinyan emphasized that the authorities are ready for an open and honest dialogue with the people, acting as their legitimate representatives. He considered the need to remove the reference to the Declaration of Independence of Armenia from the preamble as the main argument for the adoption of the new Basic Law.

According to the politician, the orientation towards the restoration of “historical justice”, which includes strategies regarding Western Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, is equivalent to formulating the problem of the destruction of the Republic of Armenia. The head of the executive called to strive for a “just reality”, noting that running after historical justice only creates new injustices and conflicts. He also added that only the elected Prime Minister of RA has the exclusive right to speak on behalf of the people.

The process of preparing the document has already entered the practical stage. as early as March 16, officials announced that the draft text of the new Constitution was completely ready and forwarded to the ruling “Civil Pact” party for consideration. Discussions on constitutional reforms have been going on in Armenia since 2018, but now they have received a completely new context in the light of foreign political pressures.

Official Baku claims that the current Constitution of Armenia contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan, as it refers to the Declaration of Independence of 1990, which in turn mentions the decision on the reunification of the Armenian SSR and the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region. The Azerbaijani side regularly emphasizes that the amendment of the Armenian Basic Law is the main condition for signing the bilateral peace treaty.

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