Pashinyan Calls Armenia’s Declaration of Independence ‘Anti-State’ as He Pushes for New Constitution

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has described the country’s Declaration of Independence as an “anti-state text,” arguing that Armenia must abandon its ideology to secure lasting peace. His remarks come as the government seeks opposition support for a new Constitution, a key issue in negotiations with Azerbaijan.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, October 29, after a Cabinet meeting, Pashinyan said his government’s main responsibility was to turn the current peace process into a lasting agreement that would protect Armenia’s sovereignty for generations.

“The number one, number two and number three mission that I must accomplish as Prime Minister of Armenia is to establish peace and make it institutional,” he said.

Pashinyan said the new Constitution should be built around the long-term survival of the Armenian state rather than the political ideas reflected in the 1990 Declaration of Independence.

The declaration, adopted before Armenia formally gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, refers to a 1989 decision on the unification of Soviet Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan has repeatedly cited that reference as evidence of territorial claims against it.

Baku has made constitutional changes a condition for signing a peace agreement, demanding that Armenia remove the reference to the declaration from its Constitution’s preamble.

The Armenian government maintains that constitutional reform is a domestic matter and has rejected the idea of negotiating its Constitution with Azerbaijan or any other foreign government.

Pashinyan nevertheless acknowledged that adopting a new Constitution would not automatically guarantee the signing and ratification of the peace agreement.

He said he could make such a commitment only after receiving reliable assurances about the outcome, including matters beyond the Armenian government’s control.

If those assurances were secured, he argued, rejecting the new Constitution would effectively mean rejecting peace.

The prime minister also said Armenia could avoid snap parliamentary elections despite the ruling party’s failure to secure enough seats to advance a constitutional referendum on its own.

Pashinyan had raised the possibility of early elections on October 22 if opposition lawmakers refused to cooperate. A week later, he appeared more optimistic.

He said an exchange with opposition lawmakers during Wednesday’s parliamentary question-and-answer session had created an opportunity for the government to make a proposal they would find difficult to reject.

According to Pashinyan, opposition lawmakers had connected the constitutional debate to regional security, international relations and the peace process, giving the government an opening to seek their support.

He suggested that the government could use those arguments to build public pressure on opposition lawmakers to vote in favor of holding a referendum.

Pashinyan said he had not yet developed a concrete proposal and could not guarantee that negotiations would succeed.

The central issue, he explained, was whether adopting a new Constitution would be the final requirement in the broader peace process with Azerbaijan.

If he could obtain a convincing answer, Pashinyan said, he believed the government could offer the opposition a deal it would struggle to turn down.

Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party won Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections with 726,818 votes, or approximately 49.75%, securing 64 seats in the 105-member National Assembly.

Under Armenia’s Constitution, putting a new constitutional draft to a referendum requires the support of at least two-thirds of lawmakers, or 70 votes.

The ruling party therefore needs at least six opposition votes to move forward.

Opposition lawmakers have argued that the election results did not give Pashinyan the parliamentary majority needed to pursue constitutional changes without their support.

The prime minister rejected that argument Thursday, saying constitutional reform had been included in Civil Contract’s election platform.

More than 700,000 voters supported that platform, he said, giving his government a mandate to carry out its proposals.

During Wednesday’s parliamentary session, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan offered the opposition a political compromise: Support holding a referendum on the new Constitution, and the government would resign if voters rejected the proposed text.

The opposition Strong Armenia and Armenia Alliance factions have previously refused to support the government’s constitutional plans, accusing Pashinyan of pursuing changes under pressure from Azerbaijan.

Their objections come amid longstanding concerns that constitutional concessions could lead to further demands from Baku even after a peace agreement is signed.

Pashinyan has insisted that Armenia will not discuss its Constitution with Azerbaijan or any other outside party.

The government is expected to publish its proposed constitutional draft soon, opening the way for public discussions before the document is submitted to parliament.

For now, Pashinyan faces a political challenge at home: persuading at least six opposition lawmakers to support a referendum on constitutional changes they have repeatedly criticized as concessions to Azerbaijan.

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