Adoption of new constitution serves Armenia’s interests, says Speaker

Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan reiterated on Tuesday that the government-initiated constitutional reforms have nothing to do with Azerbaijan’s calls for constitutional changes. He said the adoption of a new constitution is in Armenia’s interests.

“The Constitution of Armenia and the proposed amendments are being made for the interests of Armenia. They are not being made for the interests of Azerbaijan. They are being made for Armenia’s survival and its future,” Simonyan, a senior member of the ruling Civil Contract party, said at a press briefing in response to allegations that the changes were initiated at Azerbaijan’s demand.

Responding to a question about whether Armenia could demand that Azerbaijan change its Constitution, the Speaker said that a peace agreement with Azerbaijan has already been negotiated, and there is no such provision in the agreement. All clauses in the peace agreement are bilateral.

“There is no such agenda. Armenia needs to have a strong military. I am working to ensure that the Armenian army can be well-armed and capable of defending itself. I am not thinking about imposing anything on Azerbaijan, Türkiye, or Georgia so that tomorrow they might think of imposing something on us. I am thinking about Armenia’s interests. And Armenia’s interest dictates that we must have a constitution that does not give anyone an excuse to see us as a threat in the region,” Simonyan emphasized.

Minister of Justice Srbuhi Galyan announced earlier in March that the text of the proposed new Constitution, developed to replace the current one via referendum, is ready and will be discussed at the ruling Civil Contract party’s board meeting, as well as by its parliamentary faction. Speaking to reporters, she was asked whether the reference to the Declaration of Independence in the current Constitution’s preamble has been removed in the new text, something Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has endorsed, citing its “conflict logic.” Galyan said the text doesn’t have a preamble but didn’t clarify. She said the final version would be published after finalization. 

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told reporters on Monday that Azerbaijan has notified that it will not finalize the initialed peace deal as long as the current wording about Nagorno-Karabakh remains in the Armenian Constitution, referring to the preamble that includes a reference to the 1990 Declaration of Independence.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly accused Armenia of having what it describes as territorial claims in its Constitution through its preamble reference to the 1990 Declaration of Independence, which in turn mentions Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia has denied that this reference constitutes territorial claims, and the country’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the mention in no way amounts to such claims. Armenian officials have stated that signing the initialed peace deal with Azerbaijan would resolve all of Azerbaijan’s concerns.

Meanwhile, the Pashinyan administration has initiated constitutional amendments, with work ongoing to develop the draft, but officials have emphasized that this is an unrelated internal matter that has been in the plans for many years.

Armenian officials have repeatedly stated that Armenia has no territorial claims against any country.