Narek Karapetyan: The Armenian authorities will not be able to force the country to support the new Constitution by arresting supporters of the "Strong Armenia" party

ArmInfo. Arresting supporters of the Strong Armenia party will not force it to support the new Constitution. Narek Karapetyan, head of the Strong Armenia faction, stated this to reporters on October 23 during the election campaign in Stepanavan, Lori Province.

The politician ruled out such a development. "If persuading means arresting our supporters,

friends, and team members in the near future, and thus trying to force us to vote for the new Constitution in a referendum, then that's out of the question. We certainly won't be persuaded that way. "As for our position, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev shouldn't decide whether to change our Constitution," Karapetyan emphasized.

He noted that this entire process fits within the logic of fulfilling Azerbaijan's latest demands on Armenia. According to him, if the Armenian authorities want to prove otherwise, they should abandon this agenda. "After all, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Azerbaijani Presidential Aide Hikmet Hajiyev write about this demand to change the Constitution every day." In the history of Armenia, the first Azerbaijani to defeat Armenians was Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. He was so inspired by this that he decided not to stop there and has even gone so far as to interfere in our domestic affairs," the faction leader believes.

In this vein, he expressed confidence that the Armenian authorities will try to hold new elections in order to somehow fulfill the promises made to various centers of power. "Soon, Russia will raise the issue of gas prices for us, Azerbaijan will raise the issue of the Constitution, and Europe will raise various legislative issues. In other words, everyone will come for the promises that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made to them at various stages. Russia will raise the issue of gas prices in the near future. Let our citizens know this. The ruling party knows this too," the MP said. He also regretfully noted that the authorities led by Pashinyan had worsened relations with Russia without ensuring strong relations with Europe.

It should be noted that during a briefing on October 22, the Armenian Prime Minister did not rule out holding early parliamentary elections if the parliamentary opposition could not be persuaded to vote in favor of submitting the new Constitution to a referendum. As a reminder, following the regular parliamentary elections in Armenia held on June 7, 2026, the Civil Contract party had a 3/5 majority, which allows it to pass constitutional laws and make appointments. However, the party lacks the 2/3 majority necessary to directly amend the Armenian Constitution.

It should be added that since the occupation of Artsakh, demands have frequently been voiced from Baku to amend the Armenian Constitution due to its alleged territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani side presents the fulfillment of these and other demands as a precondition for concluding a "peace treaty."