YEREVAN (RFE/RL) – Armenia is set to hold a referendum on constitutional changes in April, in an attempt by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to remove a majority of judges at the country’s Constitutional Court.
President Armen Sarkissian signed a decree on February 9 setting April 5 as the date for the vote, three days after parliament voted to hold the referendum that would lead to the dismissal of seven of the court’s nine members installed before nationwide protests swept Pashinian to power in 2018.
The seven would be replaced by judges to be confirmed by the National Assembly in which Pashinyan’s My Step bloc holds a majority.
The court’s two other judges, who were appointed to their posts later, will keep their powers.
“On April 5, we will say “yes” to the Revolution, say “yes” to Freedom and slam the door on corruption,” Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook page after Sarkissian signed the decree.
Pashinyan has accused the seven judges of maintaining ties to Armenia’s former leadership and impeding reforms that he says are aimed at creating an independent judiciary.
