Day: January 24, 2024

On the heels of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan calling for a new constitution in Armenia, to be aligned with the region’s geopolitical realities, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan confirmed on Wednesday that Azerbaijan has expressed concerns regarding Armenia’s Declaration of Independence.

In an interview with Azatutyun.am’s Armenian Service, Mirzoyan said that there have been concerns voiced by Baku about Armenia’s Declaration of Independence and thus Armenia’s Constitution, which makes reference to the independence document that clearly calls for the reunification of Armenia and Artsakh.

“Yes, they [Azerbaijan] have loudly raised an issue. They consider [the independence declaration] problematic and have presented legal attributes. Accordingly, we considered their wording to be problematic in the same way,” Mirzoyan said.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Mirzoyan spoke about outstanding legal issues with the constitutions of both countries. In his interview with Azatuyun.am on Wednesday he emphasized that there are no mentions of constitutional changes in the peace treaty drafts that have thus far been exchanged between Yerevan and Baku.

“Within the general peace discussions, there have been concerns voiced about legal matters by both sides and both sides have provided clarifications on the issues accordingly,” Mirzoyan added, emphasizing that discussions about constitutional reforms or drafting a new constitution in Armenia started years ago.

The foreign minister said that while the constitution codifies principles of domestic interrelations for the Republic of Armenia, it can have an impact on regional issues.

“I do not deny that influence and that relationship, but I want to say that there is no such demand or text, project, nothing in the peace agreement,” Mirzoyan said.

Yet Pashinyan did not shy away from criticizing Armenia’s Declaration of Independence on the anniversary of its adoption last August, saying that the wording contained in the document sowed conflict with regional neighbors, characterizing it as a vestige of the Soviet Union.

His announcement last week, that Armenia needed a new constitution that would make Armenia more compatible with new geopolitical realities in the region, has raised concerns among many, including opposition forces, who have accused Pashinyan of kowtowing to Aliyev in advancing the notion of a new constitution.

Pashinyan’s critics were quick to assert that he wants to get rid of a preamble to the current Armenian constitution enacted in 1995. The preamble makes an indirect reference to a 1989 declaration on Armenia’s unification with Nagorno-Karabakh and calls for international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide.

Five lawmakers representing the main opposition Hayastan alliance last week issued a joint statement accusing Pashinyan of “preparing the ground for meeting another of the nonstop Turkish-Azerbaijani demands.”

One of those lawmakers, Gegham Manukyan, insisted on Tuesday that the main purpose of the planned constitutional change is to remove the preamble in question. Pashinyan’s initiative would thus “tear down the pillars of modern Armenian statehood,” Manukyan told Azatutyun’s Armenian Service.

Tatevik Hayrapetyan, an expert on Azerbaijan and a former parliamentarian critical of the Armenian government, echoed those claims on Wednesday. Hayrapetian pointed out that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev openly demanded constitutional changes from Yerevan in 2021. Baku, she said, now wants to make sure that “in the future Armenia will refrain from claiming its rights to Nagorno-Karabakh under any government.”

The 88-member assembly, founded in 1982, supervises the most powerful authority but has rarely intervened directly in policymaking. 

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is 84, so the new assembly is expected to play a significant role in choosing his successor since its members are only elected every eight years. 

In a statement, Rouhani criticized the Guardian Council’s ruling as “politically biased … [one] that will undermine the nation’s confidence in the system.” 

Close to moderates, Rouhani was elected president in a landslide in 2013 and 2017 on a promise to reduce Iran’s diplomatic isolation. 

But the mid-ranking cleric angered political hardliners who opposed any rapprochement with the U.S. “Great Satan” after reaching a 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers. 

The deal unraveled in 2018 when then-U.S. President Donald Trump ditched the agreement and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. Efforts to revive the pact have failed. 

“There was no reason given for the Guardian Council’s decision,” a source close to Rouhani told Reuters, adding that “no decision has been made yet for an appeal” as Rouhani has three days to object against the ruling. 

“Rouhani has been a member of the assembly since 1999 for three terms. … It will be interesting to see what the reason for his disqualification was.” 

The 12-member Guardian Council, which oversees elections and legislation, disqualified 80% of candidates running for the assembly in its last election in 2016. 

Moderate politicians have accused the Guardian Council of disqualifying rivals and said that excluding candidates from the race undermines the vote’s legitimacy. 

A low turnout for the upcoming elections is expected, with Rouhani saying the majority of people do not want to vote and that this will favor the ruling minority, which relies on low turnout. 

“Undoubtedly, the ruling minority overtly seeks to reduce public participation in elections … intending to dictate the people’s fate through their decisions,” he said in the statement published on Rouhani’s website. 

With Rouhani’s disqualification, the Guardian Council had made it clear that hardliners intended to keep moderates away from the assembly, a pro-reform insider said. 

The Guardian Council has also disqualified hundreds of hopefuls running for the parliamentary election also to be held on March 1. 

State media reported that only 30 mid-ranking moderate candidates have been qualified to stand for the 290-seat parliament. Around 12,000 hopefuls will run for parliament.