Several major opposition groups have launched a public awareness campaign against proposed constitutional changes, saying they aim to ‘defend Armenia’s independence’ and prevent the adoption of what they call ‘Aliyev’s constitution’. The campaign began on Sunday, despite no agreement having been reached on holding a constitutional referendum.

Amending Armenia’s constitution is an Azerbaijani precondition for signing a peace treaty, with Baku arguing that the Declaration of Independence, referenced in the constitution’s preamble, contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The two countries initialled a peace agreement in August 2025 but have yet to sign it.

Despite winning the June parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party lacks the two-thirds majority required to call a referendum to amend the constitution and cannot pass a decision without the support of the opposition.

The opposition has dubbed the proposed new constitution Azerbaijani President Ilham ‘Aliyev’s constitution’, arguing that the changes are being pursued to meet Azerbaijan’s demands.

Even though the newly drafted constitution is yet to be published, the authorities already stated that the new draft makes no mention of the Declaration of Independence.

The campaign began in Yerevan’s metro stations, where opposition figures headed in different directions across the city. They carried Armenian national flags and copies of the ballot papers used in the 1991 independence referendum.

‘We are launching public awareness campaigns in Yerevan related to the protection of independence’, Narek Karapetyan, head of the Strong Armenia faction in parliament, announced in the video shared on social media from the metro.

‘Yes to independence’, Armenia Alliance MP Christine Vardanyan is heard saying in the background.

‘This is not simply a matter of any particular article of the constitution; this is a question of independence and sovereignty’, Vardanyan said in a separate video.

According to Vardanyan, the aim of the campaign is to explain to citizens the constitutional amendment process, which she said was being carried out at Azerbaijan’s demand.

Armenian authorities also acknowledge that Azerbaijan has set this precondition, but maintain that they do not discuss potential amendments with foreign states. The government also says that constitutional reform has been on its agenda since shortly after it came to power in 2018.

The campaign was agreed on at a meeting held a day earlier between representatives of several opposition groups and other public and political figures who, as they said, had responded to a call for ‘unity’.

The meeting was part of a broader opposition initiative announced earlier in the week, when several major opposition groups declared the formation of a nationwide alliance against the proposed constitutional changes, among other issues.

The alliance itself was announced shortly after the arrest of Russian–Armenian billionaire and Strong Armenia leader Samvel Karapetyan. They also called on other political parties, public figures, and civil society representatives to join the initiative.

Strong Armenia claimed that the meeting had been planned before Samvel Karapetyan’s arrest, describing his detention as an attempt to hinder the opposition’s unity.

‘We are the defenders of our constitution, and the constitution is the defender of our independence. The Declaration of Independence is the foundation of our independence. And this is something that our people must decide. A significant part of our political parties have already made that decision’, Narek Karapetyan said in a press briefing following the meeting on 7 November.

He also said that the opposition would participate in street protests if it deems it necessary, expressing hope that the public would join the protests.

‘We are prepared to use all available means to defend the constitution’, Karapetyan added.

‘KGB agents come out to fight for independence’

The initiative was met with criticism from the ruling Civil Contract party.

Parliamentary Speaker Ruben Rubinyan accused Armenia’s former presidents Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan, and Serzh Sargsyan, whose political parties and alliances joined the consolidation, of having undermined the country’s independence.

‘Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan, and Serzh Sargsyan have been and continue to be the main enemies of Armenia’s independence. Their political heirs spare no effort in fighting against Armenia’s independence and serving their masters in Kaluga. The Kaluga mercenaries will be defeated by an independent Armenia’, Rubinyan wrote on Facebook.

Pashinyan and his party often call Samvel Karapetyan the ‘Kaluga oligarch’, in reference to the Russian city where he began building his business empire.

Rubinyan’s deputy, Vahagn Aleksanyan, also mocked the opposition campaign, referring to its participants as Soviet-era KGB agents.

‘One day, the KGB agents come out to fight for independence’, Aleksanyan wrote, claiming that the campaign was intended to ‘defend the looting of citizens carried out by Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA)’.

The remarks appeared to refer to the recent criminal investigation into alleged damages of more than ֏65 billion ($180 million) at the ENA, which is owned by Samvel Karapetyan’s Tashir Group but is currently under state management pending nationalisation.

Rubinyan also said that, in a strange twist of fate, the political forces now opposing a constitutional referendum were the same ones that had previously rigged all three constitutional referendums held in Armenia.

He was referring to the referendums held in 1995, 2005, and 2015, which he accused Ter-Petrosyan, Kocharyan, and Sargsyan of rigging.