Armenia's government plans to fast-track a new constitution

Justice Minister Srbuhi Galian has indicated government plans to fast-track the drafting of a new Armenian constitution demanded by Azerbaijan. Galian heads the Constitutional Reform Council that was formed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in 2022 with the initial aim of proposing amendments to the country’s current constitution. Pashinian changed the ad hoc body’s mandate last May, saying that it must draft a “new constitution” from scratch before January 2027. The move came as the Azerbaijani leaders continued to make the signing of a peace treaty with Armenia conditional on a change of its constitution which they say contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan. [ . . . ] The 32-year-old minister said earlier that the drafting process has already begun. The Armenian Justice Ministry declined to clarify on Monday who exactly is involved in that process. It said only that the resulting drafts will be “periodically discussed and agreed with the Constitutional Reform Council.” A member of the council, Daniel Ioannisian, insisted, meanwhile, that Galian’s statement contradicts the executive order signed by Pashinian in May.
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