Pashinyan specifies timeframe of Armenia`s new Constitution  referendum 

ArmInfo. The concept of the new Constitution of Armenia is not ready yet, Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan said during a meeting with journalists on March 12.

The Prime Minister recalled that the relevant commission had been  working on the concept of constitutional changes for a long time.  "The concept of constitutional changes is ready, I have familiarized  myself with it. Based on this, I came to the conclusion that Armenia  needs a new Constitution," Pashinyan said. He recalled that back in  February 2020 he pointed out the need for constitutional changes, but  the process was not launched due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In this context, the existing concept is no longer relevant. But  there is no concept of a new Constitution yet.  "There is no text yet  regarding the new Constitution. According to the new Constitution,  there is a political narrative, an agenda with justifications  proposed by me to the people of the Republic of Armenia," Pashinyan  said.

A referendum on the new constitution, according to him, will take  place when the authorities understand that the people of Armenia have  a sufficient level of awareness of the ongoing processes, as well as  the task at hand. At the same time, as the head of the Cabinet of  Ministers pointed out, unfortunately, it is practically impossible to  carry it out either this year or even next year. "The task of this  stage is to conduct a discourse with the public on this topic,"  Pashinyan concluded.

On January 19, at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia,  Pashinyan said that Armenia needs a new Constitution that will make  the Republic of Armenia more viable in the new geopolitical  conditions.  The PM's opponents stated that the initiative comes from  Baku, mainly with the goal of eliminating from the Constitution  references to the Declaration of Independence, which contains  reference to the resolution on the reunification of the Armenian SSR  and Nagorno-Karabakh.

The 11th paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, which states  that the Republic of Armenia supports international recognition of  the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman Turkey, is also considered  problematic. On February 1, in an interview with the RA Public Radio,  the head of the Cabinet of Ministers stated: "We have a gap between  the citizen and the state, which is expressed in legitimacy, because  the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, adopted in 1995, and  changed several times, has never been adopted in such conditions and  situation, so that a citizen of the Republic of Armenia say to  themselves: "I went, voted, and adopted the Constitution."