PM Pashinyan Rejects Azerbaijani Demands for Armenia’s Constitutional Change

YEREVEN — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday rejected continuing Azerbaijan demands for a change of Armenia’s constitution which Baku says contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan.

Baku points to the constitution’s preamble that mentions a 1990 declaration of Armenia’s independence. The declaration in turn cites a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and the then Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.

Echoing a recent ruling by the Armenian Constitutional Court, Pashinyan downplayed the legal significance of the preamble. Articles of the constitution take precedence over it, he said, adding that it is the Azerbaijani constitution that lays claim to Armenian territory.

“Armenia, however, does not raise the issue of changing the Azerbaijani constitution for two reasons,” Pashinyan told the Armenian parliament. “First, such a demand would deadlock the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process. And second, there is an article in the agreed part of the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan which states that the parties cannot refer to their domestic legislation to justify their failure to implement this treaty.”

“According to the legislature of the Republic of Armenia, after the peace treaty is signed, it should be ratified by the Parliament. Before that the Government is obliged to send the treaty to the Constitutional Court to verify its compliance with the Constitution. Should the Court rule that the text of the treaty does not comply with the Constitution, the Republic of Armenia may initiate constitutional amendments. Should the court confirm the constitutionality of the treaty, it will be forwarded to the National Assembly for ratification,” he said.

Therefore, the Prime Minister said, according to Article 5.3 of the Constitution, “in case of conflict between the norms of international treaties ratified by the Republic of Armenia and those of domestic legislature the norms of international treaties shall apply.”