Pashinyan: Armenia needs new Constitution

YEREVAN, 22 May. /ARKA/. Armenia needs a new Constitution, the country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

“Everyone should have the new Constitution in their pocket to open it in any [ambiguous situation] and look up what kind of agreement we have with our neighbor. Many mental things will change once it’s done,” he said.

Pashinyan mentioned a potential new Constitution earlier in January. It would make the country more competitive and viable in the new geopolitical environment, he said. Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan referred to claims that the normalization process between Armenia and Azerbaijan may be the reason behind adopting a new Constitution as “exaggeration”. He admitted, however, that Azerbaijan has issues with the Armenian Declaration of Independence.

Azerbaijan’s leader Ilham Aliyev said on 1 February that peace between his country and Armenia would only be possible if Yerevan “gives up any territorial claims” towards Baku and amends its Constitution and other documents accordingly. He made a point that the current Constitution refers to the Declaration of Independence which claims Nagorno-Karabakh as an Armenian territory.