In advancing his ideology of “Real Armenia,” which sees a homeland confined to the current borders of Armenia and the abandonment of history, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday highlighted the imperative for the adoption of a new Constitution through a referendum.
“The Real Armenia is the Republic of Armenia, with an internationally recognized area of 29,743 square kilometers,” Pashinyan declared in a live broadcast Wednesday, saying that his vision for the development of Armenia must “be reflected” in all facets of state and civic life.
During the more than two-hour long broadcast, Pashinyan sought to also redefine the concepts of patriotism, which he said is based only on advancing the “internationally recognized state.” He went on to say that the current homeland model is not based on a “system of rights and obligations, and has geographical perception options.”
President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has threatened that he will no sign a peace treaty with Armenia if that country does not change its constitution, claiming that the current document contains territorial demands from Azerbaijan.
While Pashinyan, himself, in the past has attempted to counter Aliyev and his government’s statement by saying that Azerbaijan’s constitution also has territorial claims from Armenia, his broadcast on Wednesday seems to advance an ideal more akin to Baku’s demands.
“It is essential that the people—the citizens—perceive themselves not only as the founders of the state, but also as the source of the legal order established in the state, perceive the constitutional order established in the state as a national consensus of coexistence achieved with their own participation,” Pashinyan said.
“The adoption of the new Constitution through a national referendum is essential for this system, since all previous referendums held to adopt the current Constitution have a serious lack of legitimacy, at least in public perception,” Pashinyan argued.
He added that a new constitution would ensure the transition from what he called a “residual system of functioning of a stateless nation to a system of functioning of state-building people.”
Pashinyan also attempted to redefine the concept of a Nation, saying that from a political standpoint, the Armenian Nation and the people living in the country should not be equated, because “they differ significantly.”
“Thus, a nation is a collectivity with ethnic commonality, which is not endowed with general political legal capacity,” Pashinyan said, adding that only those living in Armenia as a collective are “endowed with political legal capacity, which encompasses general citizenship, that is, the people are the state-forming institution, the constitutive, the source of power and the supreme bearer of power.”
“The Armenian people are the state-forming part of the Armenian nation. The Armenian people are the axis of the people of Armenia. The citizens of the Republic of Armenia, which also includes representatives of other nations, are part of the people of Armenia,” he went on to say.
Pashinyan also claimed that the homeland, with its current borders, which does not include Artsakh, is the nexus for all things Armenian, including religion, culture, traditions, food and the concept of independence.
From there he pivoted to outline that his ideology also hinges on the success of his policy for peace in the region.
“Peace is first and foremost a regional factor, because peace or its absence is first and foremost expressed in relations with immediate neighbors, then internationally, then globally,” Pashinyan said.
“Peace is the most reliable guarantee of security,” Pashinyan said. “The most important components of ensuring security are the interdependence of the countries of the region, ensuring the country’s place in the regional and global supply chain and trade.”
An independent commission to discuss then propose a draft constitution has been established. The commission said that it is working on draft amendments, which it will present before the 2026 parliamentary elections.
