Pashinyan’s promises related to the new Constitution are a political bluff

Armenian citizens can watch online the implementation of a well-known principle: “People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war, or before an election.” With elections in Armenia fast approaching—whether regular or potential snap elections to the National Assembly—it is crucial for Nikol Pashinyan to conduct and “digest” a national referendum on amending the Constitution. In this context, he can promise citizens anything. The main goal is to “lure voters to the polling stations,” and then the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) can “figure things out.”

In this context, some of Pashinyan’s statements in the National Assembly on Tuesday must be taken into account. The leader of the Civil Contract Party addressed the topic of the constitutional referendum, proposing a serious discussion about introducing jury trials in the country. “If the institution of jury trials is introduced, we may face failures to execute justice. But we are still facing this problem in the current judicial and law enforcement systems. With jury trials, the justice system will not be cut off from the people,” Pashinyan said.

We are dealing with an undisguised attempt to manipulate public opinion. Pashinyan deliberately diverts the discourse on constitutional changes in the other direction, trying to “hide Turkish-Azerbaijani interests.” Moreover, it is important to understand that Turkey and Azerbaijan aim to change the Constitution of Armenia—not simply to remove references to Armenia’s Declaration of Independence—but to dismantle the system of security and international guarantees that underpin Armenia’s borders and sovereignty, using the citizens of Armenia to achieve this goal.

A fundamental change in the Constitution may not focus solely on introducing jury trials or removing references to the Declaration of Independence. Instead, it might entail establishing Armenia’s status as a neutral country. Even a minimal content analysis of the statements of officials (for example, Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan and government-affiliated “experts”) confirms this hypothesis. This, in turn, means Armenia’s withdrawal from the CSTO, the withdrawal of Russian border guards and the Russian 102nd military base, and the revision of all agreements with Russia on military assistance.

If or when the security system is destroyed by the hands of the Armenians themselves in the referendum, Turkey and Azerbaijan can already create their own quasi-state in the territories of Armenia—the so-called Western Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan knows and understands all this but consciously follows this path, acknowledging the potential risks and his inability to stop them. Pashinyan knows that there will be no jury trials in “Western Azerbaijan”, there will be no Armenians at all, and therefore he can promise anything. He can introduce a clause into the Constitution stating that every resident of Armenia receives shares in the Zangezur Combine or claim ownership of a square centimeter of Republic Square. Anything can be written on paper that you are not going to implement.

Think about it…