Pashinyan Willing to Change Constitution Based on Demands by Azerbaijan

For the first time, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday publicly said that he believes that Armenia’s new Constitution must not contain a reference to Armenia’s Declaration of Independence, a point being pushed by Baku as a condition for signing a peace deal with Armenia.

Armenia’s Declaration of Independence, adopted in 1990, makes reference to the need for unification of Armenia and Artsakh. That provision of the declaration is also mentioned in Armenia’s current Constitution.

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan began demanding changes to Armenia’s Constitution, saying that the document, in its current iteration, makes territorial claims from Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan reflected on his statements during the past three years, in which he said that Armenia’s Declaration of Independence effectively was a declaration of war on Armenia’s neighbors. He also said that the Republic of Armenia cannot fully become an independent states based on the text of the declaration, even suggesting that the historic document be changed.

“If I am saying this, therefore I cannot say that the text of the new Constitution must have a reference to the Declaration of Independence. On the contrary, I can say that in my opinion there should not be a reference to the Declaration of Independence in the text of the new Constitution,” Pashinyan told reporters on Wednesday.

“But I want to reiterate that it is up to the people of the Republic of Armenia to decide,” he added.

Arguments about both preserving and removing the reference will be debated in political platforms, Pashinyan said, adding that the political forces and political leaders are the ones that would advance the arguments.

Pashinyan continuously has insisted on adopting a new Constitution, thus appointing a commission, which announced that a draft would be ready by January, 2027. Armenia’s Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan, however, said that a draft would be ready before the 2026 general elections.

Pashinyan and other government officials have pushed back on Baku’s insistence that the current constitution contains territorial claims from Azerbaijan.

As recently as Tuesday, Pashinyan told lawmakers that he believes that Azerbaijan’s constitution contains territorial claims from Armenia. He also referred to a decision by Armenia’s Constitutional Court, which ruled last year that Baku’s claims were warrantless.

Pashinyan’s remarks on Wednesday prompted opposition leaders to insist that the prime minister was willing to cave in to Azerbaijan’s demands.

“Pashinian is ready to make any concessions, as he has done since November 2020, in order to cling to power,” said Artur Khachatryan, a member of the opposition Hayastan Alliance.