Today’s Constitution of Armenia is as hated by our people as the one imposed by the Ottoman Empire – Pashinyan

According to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, adopting a new Constitution for Armenia is a crucial reform that will help establish a stable democracy.

“The most important institutional issue that must be resolved through the new Constitution is the organic and stable connection between the judiciary and the people. I also discuss this matter with members of the judiciary, saying that power belongs to the people, and any authority must stem from the people. Today, I see a serious systemic problem. The judiciary does not stem from the people. Moreover, it is cut off from the people and has no organic relationship with them,” he said.

He added that proposals are being developed within the framework of the new Constitution to resolve this issue. Additionally, his political team has introduced a proposal to establish a jury system.

Regarding the Constitution, Pashinyan noted that since 1995, no constitution has received more than 50+1% of the electorate’s votes.

“This is a political issue, but also an organic one, because the legal order established in the country is not perceived by the people as their own. They do not feel they have agreed to live by these rules in Armenia’s internal life. The Constitution and legal system of today’s Armenia are as hated by our people as those imposed in the past—during Soviet times, under the Ottoman Empire, and under the Persian Empire. Because then and now, people feel that a group—whether Armenian elites or foreign actors—imposed this legal framework on them,” he said, stressing that without this reform, existing problems cannot be resolved.