ArmInfo. The concept of the new Constitution of Armenia is not ready yet, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a meeting with journalists on March 12.
The Prime Minister recalled that the relevant commission had been working on the concept of constitutional changes for a long time. "The concept of constitutional changes is ready, I have familiarized myself with it. Based on this, I came to the conclusion that Armenia needs a new Constitution," Pashinyan said. He recalled that back in February 2020 he pointed out the need for constitutional changes, but the process was not launched due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In this context, the existing concept is no longer relevant. But there is no concept of a new Constitution yet. "There is no text yet regarding the new Constitution. According to the new Constitution, there is a political narrative, an agenda with justifications proposed by me to the people of the Republic of Armenia," Pashinyan said.
A referendum on the new constitution, according to him, will take place when the authorities understand that the people of Armenia have a sufficient level of awareness of the ongoing processes, as well as the task at hand. At the same time, as the head of the Cabinet of Ministers pointed out, unfortunately, it is practically impossible to carry it out either this year or even next year. "The task of this stage is to conduct a discourse with the public on this topic," Pashinyan concluded.
On January 19, at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Pashinyan said that Armenia needs a new Constitution that will make the Republic of Armenia more viable in the new geopolitical conditions. The PM's opponents stated that the initiative comes from Baku, mainly with the goal of eliminating from the Constitution references to the Declaration of Independence, which contains reference to the resolution on the reunification of the Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The 11th paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, which states that the Republic of Armenia supports international recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman Turkey, is also considered problematic. On February 1, in an interview with the RA Public Radio, the head of the Cabinet of Ministers stated: "We have a gap between the citizen and the state, which is expressed in legitimacy, because the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, adopted in 1995, and changed several times, has never been adopted in such conditions and situation, so that a citizen of the Republic of Armenia say to themselves: "I went, voted, and adopted the Constitution."