Armenia’s foreign minister seeks opposition votes for constitutional referendum

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan urged opposition MPs on 28 October 2026, to support putting a draft new Constitution to a referendum. He pledged that the government would resign if voters rejected it.

The governing Civil Contract faction needs at least 6 opposition votes to initiate the referendum because it lacks enough parliamentary seats to do so alone. Both opposition factions have said they will not support holding the vote.

Armenia faction leader Anna Grigoryan rejected the proposal, saying support would violate her faction’s electoral mandate and pre-election pledges. Public pressure would not change that position, she said, according to an October 30 report by Armenpress.

Pashinyan sets conditions for public pressure

The previous week, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had proposed persuading the opposition to support the constitutional project and had not ruled out early elections if that effort failed.

At an October 29 briefing covered by Azatutyun, Pashinyan described a different route. He said the government would mobilize public pressure on opposition MPs if, after obtaining answers to their questions and making an offer, they still refused to enable the referendum.

Opposition MPs were asking what guarantee existed that Azerbaijan would sign the peace agreement after Armenia changed its Constitution. Pashinyan acknowledged that he did not yet have that answer. He said it lay outside Armenia’s sovereign territory and his government’s authority, and that he would say whether he could offer a guarantee once he obtained an answer.

Pashinyan also made early elections conditional on being 100 percent certain that the current parliamentary opposition would not enter the next parliament. He suggested that public pressure and concern for their political survival could instead persuade opposition MPs to support the referendum.

Why the peace agreement enters the debate

Mirzoyan said Armenia was ready to sign the peace agreement. He described Azerbaijan’s position as a refusal to sign until Armenia’s Constitution changed, rather than a formal demand made during negotiations to change it.

Azerbaijan wants the constitutional preamble’s reference to Armenia’s Declaration of Independence removed as a condition for signing. It views the declaration as containing a territorial claim against Azerbaijan.

The preamble, the Constitution’s opening statement, anchors the Constitution in the declaration’s principles and goals. The declaration invokes a 1 December 1989 decision on the reunification of the Armenian Soviet republic and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinyan said the Constitution was Armenia’s internal affair and that his government did not intend to discuss constitutional questions with Azerbaijan or other external actors.

What the two sides would put to voters

Grigoryan said assurances that Azerbaijan would sign a peace agreement would not change her faction’s position. Adopting a new Constitution would not rule out further Azerbaijani demands, she argued.

She linked the government’s proposed changes to Azerbaijan’s demands, but said her faction could consider a different reform agenda if the preamble remained unchanged. Possible subjects included judicial reform or changing what she called the “super-prime-ministerial system.”

Senior Civil Contract member Ruben Rubinyan said opposition factions could allow the referendum while retaining their right to campaign against the draft. Voters would then make the final decision.

Pashinyan’s announced next step was to publish the draft soon, then hold public discussions involving citizens and parliament over the coming months. He said the remaining stages would follow under the established procedure.