By Arshaluys Barseghyan
Several members of Armenia’s Council for Constitutional Reforms have said they were not informed that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had issued a decree last month to draft a new constitution by December 2026.
RFE/RL reported on June 19 that some of the council’s members only learned of Pashinyan’s decree recently, despite it having been issued on May 24.
The Constitutional Reforms Council is responsible for drafting constitutional amendments.
In a later decision, Pashinyan apparently amended the council’s tasks and responsibilities, replacing their task to “draft amendments to the constitution” with “drafting a new constitution.”
Pashinyan stated in January that Armenia needed a new constitution, explaining that the constitution should be adopted by a fair referendum. He said the country needed a constitution that would make it ‘more competitive and more viable in the new geopolitical and regional conditions’.