Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan believes that it will be possible to advance the process of adoption of the new Constitution without extraordinary parliamentary elections. According to his assessment, an opportunity to reach a political agreement with the opposition was created after the discussions held in the National Assembly on October 28, during which the issue of constitutional amendments was connected with the peace process with Azerbaijan.
In a briefing with journalists after the government session on October 29, Pashinyan stated that the parliamentary opposition’s questions can become the basis for such a proposal, which the opposition forces will hardly be able to reject.
“Yesterday’s question and answer of the National Assembly made it obvious to me that there is a very high probability that the matter will not lead to early elections, but on the contrary, a proposal will be formulated that the opposition simply cannot refuse,” said the Prime Minister.
According to Pashinyan, with its questions, the opposition has given an opportunity to create public pressure around the constitutional process so that the opposition MPs support the holding of a referendum on the new Constitution.
“With the results of yesterday’s question and answer, they gave us the opportunity to carry out the process in such a way that great public pressure is generated on the opposition, so that they make possible […] the referendum on the new Constitution with their vote,” he stated.
The Prime Minister, however, did not elaborate on what proposal could be presented to the opposition, stressing that it has not yet been developed. “They created a great opportunity, but that opportunity did not exist today. We still have work to do, and today I cannot guarantee that I will be able to formulate that proposal,” Pashinyan said.
According to him, during the October 28 parliamentary debate, the opposition raised the question of whether the amendment of the Armenian Constitution will be the last step in the regional peace process. Pashinyan noted that he is going to focus on finding the answer to that question.
The previous day, in the National Assembly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ararat Mirzoyan, offered the opposition MPs to support the holding of a referendum on the new Constitution, stating that if the citizens reject the project, the authorities will resign.
“Let us bring the draft of the Constitution, and you say right from here: we condemn this draft of the Constitution, this is bad, let’s go to the referendum on the Constitution,” said Mirzoyan.
Adoption of the new Constitution remains one of the main issues of disagreement between the government and the opposition. In the parliamentary elections of June 7, “Civil Agreement” received 726,819 votes, about 49.75 percent, and occupied 64 mandates in the 105-seat National Assembly.
According to the current Constitution, the support of at least two-thirds of the deputies, 70, is necessary to submit the draft of the new Constitution to a referendum. Thus, the ruling power needs at least six more votes of the opposition MPs.
“Strong Armenia” and “Armenia” factions previously expressed their opposition to the constitutional changes initiated by the government, claiming that the process is conditioned by Azerbaijan’s demands.
Baku considers the amendment of the Armenian Constitution as a precondition for signing the peace agreement, objecting to the reference to the Declaration of Independence made in the preamble of the Constitution. The authorities of Armenia declare that the adoption of the Constitution is an internal matter of the country and cannot be discussed with Azerbaijan.
On October 22, Pashinyan did not rule out the holding of extraordinary parliamentary elections if the opposition’s support for the referendum on the new Constitution could not be obtained.
On October 29, the Prime Minister reaffirmed that the adoption of the new Constitution was planned by the pre-election program of the ruling power, which was supported by more than 700,000 citizens in the 2026 elections. According to him, the government has a political mandate to implement this program.
The draft of the new Constitution has not been published yet. According to the Prime Minister, it will be submitted for public discussion in the near future, after which it will be sent to the National Assembly.
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