References to the Declaration of Independence Should Not Exist: Pashinyan

In the text of the new constitution, there should be no references to the Declaration of Independence, stated Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a press briefing with journalists in the National Assembly.

“In my message on the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2022, 2023, and even 2024, I have said that after analyzing the text of the declaration from a new perspective, I found that the text states that there cannot be an Armenian independent state. It is impossible. If I have said this, then I cannot say that there should be a reference to the Declaration of Independence in the text of the new constitution. On the contrary, in my opinion, there should be no reference to the Declaration of Independence in the new constitution, but the decision lies with the people; of course, the political forces and political leaders will present arguments for and against. This is my political position,” the Prime Minister stated.

He noted that the issue of adopting a new constitution has been on the agenda since immediately after the revolution, and he had addressed this issue as early as January 2020: “The main problem I see is that there is a disconnection between the rule of law and the citizens. I see this in my daily work. The rule of law, which derives from the constitution, is detached from the people for a simple reason: all constitutional referendums did not receive the necessary number of votes from the people. In other words, the results of the referendums were manipulated and falsified,” he added.