Kazinyan: If the new Constitution is not a demand of Baku, why can`t the authorities make peace before amendments are made to it?

ArmInfo. If the adoption of a new Constitution is not a demand of Baku, then the question arises as to why the Armenian authorities cannot conclude peace with Azerbaijan before amendments are made. This question was posed by MP David Ghazinyan, a member of parliament from the Strong Armenia opposition faction, at a press conference in Yerevan on November 6.

In this regard, he noted that before the parliamentary elections, representatives of the Armenian government never stated the need to adopt a new Constitution for concluding a peace agreement with Baku. "If Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not put forward such a condition before the elections, and during the election campaign spoke under slogans of peace, then the current position on this issue is nothing more than another deception aimed at gaining votes from Armenian citizens in the referendum," the MP emphasized.

According to Ghazinyan, this is also the reason for the arrest of the leader of the Strong Armenia party. Samvel Karapetyan. "Even if there had been a need to continue the investigation, Karapetyan was already under house arrest: an electronic bracelet was attached to his leg 24/7, and a car was stationed outside his home. This raises the question: why was it necessary to take him into custody? An alternative measure could have been to ban him from meetings. Moreover, Karapetyan did not violate any of the conditions of house arrest. In that case, who still doesn't understand why this was done?" Kazinyan asked.

As another argument, Kazinyan noted that of the nine individuals detained, only two were taken into custody – Samvel Karapetyan and another defendant. The remaining seven, as the opposition leader recalled, were released, and only three were charged with reasonable suspicion. "But even the court they created—and I can imagine the pressure they're putting on judges—only sentenced Karapetyan to one month of the requested two months, and released seven others. All of this demonstrates the lack of real grounds and that what's happening is aimed at ensuring the adoption of the 'Aliyev constitution,'" the MP is convinced.

At the same time, Kazinyan is convinced that even Karapetyan's arrest will prevent the authorities from implementing their intended scheme. "If this is truly not Azerbaijan's demand, let them first make peace and only then discuss constitutional amendments," the opposition figure added.

In conclusion, Kazinyan questioned the very need to revise the Constitution in its entirety, pointing out that if there are specific problems, it would be possible to limit the amendment to individual articles.

As a reminder, the press secretary of the Strong Armenia party Aghavni Sukiasyan reported that investigators from the Investigative Committee of Armenia have been conducting searches since early morning at the homes of Strong Armenia bloc leader Samvel Karapetyan and Strong Armenia parliamentary faction leader Narek Karapetyan. She noted that searches are also being conducted at other addresses associated with Karapetyan's family. Later, Investigative Committee spokesperson Kima Avdalyan reported that searches are being conducted simultaneously at 65 addresses. Following the searches, NSS officers detained Samvel Karapetyan and escorted him out the back door of his home. The Investigative Committee of Armenia subsequently announced that Samvel Karapetyan is accused of embezzling loan funds received for the needs of Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) CJSC. Thirty-five other people have been detained along with him. On November 5, 2026, Karapetyan's house arrest was commuted to a one-month prison term.

It should be added that Pashinyan previously stated that if the parliamentary opposition resisted the adoption of the new Constitution, the ruling majority would begin to generate public pressure. He also noted that "the authorities could formulate a proposal for the parliamentary opposition regarding the new Constitution that they would be unable to refuse."