By Gayane Saribekian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has ordered an ad hoc body set up by him to start drafting a new Armenian constitution amid Azerbaijan’s continuing demands for such a legislative change.
The Council on Constitutional Reforms was formed in 2022 with the aim of proposing amendments to Armenia’s current constitution. An executive order signed by Pashinyan and publicized on May 24 changed the council’s mandate, saying that it must draft a “new constitution” from scratch before January 2027.
Artur Sakunts, a civic activist sitting on the council, said on June 19 that the body has not yet met to discuss its new mission. He said he does not know whether Pashinyan’s order means that he will have to “throw away” the results of his work done since 2022.
“There are lots of issues that are not clear to us,” Sakunts told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Pashinyan declared in January that Armenia needs a new constitution reflecting the “new geopolitical environment” in the region. He later denied critics’ claims that he wants to scrap the country’s current constitution at the behest of Baku. Still, Pashinyan said that peace with Azerbaijan will be impossible as long as its preamble refers to Armenia’s 1990 declaration of independence.
