Draft Text of Armenia’s New Constitution Completed, To Be Reviewed First by Ruling Party Leadership

The draft text of Armenia’s new Constitution has already been completed but will not be immediately released to the public. Instead, it will first be discussed within the leadership structures of the ruling Civil Contract party before any decision is made about publishing it.

The announcement was made by Armenia’s Minister of Justice, Srbuhi Galyan, during the first meeting of the Public Council attached to the Ministry of Justice. According to the minister, the prepared draft will initially be reviewed by the board of the ruling Civil Contract party as well as by its parliamentary faction.

“The Constitutional Reforms Council is working very actively. We hold meetings every week. And the text is already ready, as I had promised. But regarding its publication, I still have no news, because it has been decided that the text will also be discussed within the board and the faction of the Civil Contract party. After that, a decision will be made on publishing the text,” the minister said.

The preparation of a new constitution has been one of the major political processes underway in Armenia in recent years. Government officials have said the reform is intended to modernize the country’s Basic Law and adapt it to what they describe as new political and institutional realities.

One of the most sensitive issues in the reform process concerns the preamble of Armenia’s current Constitution and its reference to the country’s Declaration of Independence. That reference has become a central point of debate both within Armenia and in the broader regional political context.

About a year ago, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan publicly expressed support for removing the reference to the Declaration of Independence from the preamble of a future constitution. In recent remarks, he again confirmed that position and explained his reasoning.

“There should be no reference to the Declaration of Independence in the new Constitution. I will explain why: because the Declaration of Independence is built on the logic of conflict. We cannot proceed with a logic of conflict and at the same time want to build an independent state,” the prime minister stated.

The issue has also become part of the broader regional negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that removing the reference to the Declaration of Independence from Armenia’s Constitution remains the only remaining condition for signing a peace agreement between the two countries.

Officials in Azerbaijan argue that language in Armenia’s Declaration of Independence can be interpreted as containing territorial claims against Azerbaijan. This interpretation has been repeatedly raised by Baku during discussions surrounding the ongoing peace negotiations.

As discussions over the constitutional draft move forward within the ruling party, the question of whether the reference to the Declaration of Independence will remain in the final text is expected to remain one of the most closely watched and politically sensitive issues in Armenia’s domestic debate.

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