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The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, adopted on July 5, 1995, has gone through a long path of amendments during its short life.
Fact Investigation Platform herewith presents the path of amendments which the Mother Law of the country has undergone.
The first constitutional referendum was held on July 5, 1995, when 68 percent of the participants said “yes” to the Constitution. The Mother Law entered into force on July 7, 1995.
“The last remnant of Soviet Armenia is no more. Long live the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia,” wrote the “Republic of Armenia” daily on July 8, 1995.
Ten years later, the Mother Law was subject to amendments. In 1998, in the pre-election program of RA presidential candidate Robert Kocharyan, there was a promise to make constitutional amendments to increase the role of the Parliament. Later, in 2003, during his presidency, there was an attempt to amend the Mother Law, but the enthusiasm was not great and the process failed.
On November 27, 2005, there was a referendum again. At the initiative of the 2nd President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, the RA Constitution was amended for the first time in the history of independent Armenia.
Following the events of April 2004, when the protest of the opposition was forcibly silenced, the non-partisan Kocharyan was unconditionally supported by the coalition comprising the Republican Party, “Orinats Yerkir” Party and ARF in holding the referendum. It was officially explained that the amendment were related to the reduction of the RA President’s powers and the provision of checks and balances mechanisms. On the other hand, Kocharyan said that the Constitution adopted in 1995 simply became obsolete in 10 years, like an old “zhiguli.” “The speed is not high enough, there is a lot of noise, it burns oil, but you can use it to reach Sevan, then you will come back with a tow truck. It is up to us: do we want speedy development into the future or do we want to burn oil?” Nevertheless, at that time there were opinions that Kocharyan was trying to ensure the reproduction of power.
During the “Yes” campaign of this referendum, Kocharyan admitted in a meeting with students that the current Constitution was more in his favor in terms of the powers of the President. He also said that he took the package of amendments home so that the family members were also informed. “When my children read it, one of them asked me, ‘Dad, do you need this?’ My answer was simply: I personally don’t need it, but you do, son. I do it for you.”
Although the opposition “Justice” and “National Unity” factions were against the draft constitutional amendments, 94.5 percent of the referendum participants voted in favor.
This process was called a “ghost referendum” in journalistic circles, because the journalists found out that unknown persons, dead souls, even names of people who did not go to the polling station were on the list.
As a result, according to the newly amended Constitution, the government was formed by the parliamentary majority, while the law enforcement bodies within the government including the police, the National Security Service, continued to be under the direct influence of the RA President. The National Assembly was to elect the Prosecutor General, but upon the recommendation of the RA President.
The third referendum and Serzh Sargsyan’s “super-Prime Minister” system
Customarily, ten years later, in 2015, there was a referendum on constitutional amendments in Armenia again, this time at the initiative of Serzh Sargsyan.
Prior to that, in March 2014, Serzh Sargsyan was presented with the draft of the concept of constitutional amendments, and it was at that time that he announced that he would never aspire to assume the position of leader of the country after the amendments. “I officially declare before you that I, Serzh Sargsyan, will never again run for the position of RA President. If, as a result of the final discussions, a path incompliant with my wishes is chosen, I mean the parliamentary governance model, then I will not claim the position of Prime Minister either.”
The opponents, however, claimed that these constitutional amendments pursued one goal: the reproduction of Serzh Sargsyan or the Republican Party of Armenia led by him. The two former residents of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan and Levon Ter-Petrosyan, criticized the new draft Constitution tailored to Serzh Sargsyan. “The constitutional amendments initiated by Serzh Sargsyan are destroying the foundations of the state,” said Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first President of RA.
However, Sargsyan opposed to these statements as follows: “Reforms are about the critical issues, not about individuals or, as they keep saying, about the reproduction of power. It’s absurd, just absurd – nonsense.”
The establishment of a sustainable democratic system and the safeguard of the rule of law were indicated as the justification for constitutional amendments.
Despite criticism, following the referendum held on December 6, 2015, the constitutional amendments were adopted.
According to the Central Electoral Commission, around 63 percent of the referendum participants voted “yes” to the amendments, and around 32 percent voted “no.”
The results of this referendum were heavily criticized by both the opposition and international institutions. The European Platform for Democratic Elections claimed that “an unprecedented number of violations of electoral law and international standards” were recorded during the referendum.
“We believe that the results of this referendum, which are characterized by a large number of electoral frauds and abuses, ballot box stuffing, do not reflect the free will of the people and should not be considered legitimate,” stated the observer of the Helsinki Committee, Len Wetland, the day after the referendum.
Despite allegations of electoral fraud, on December 13, the Central Electoral Commission published the results of the December 6 referendum, considering them accepted.
Thus, the CEC rejected the applications of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) and a number of NGOs to declare the results of the referendum invalid and to schedule a new referendum.
Nevertheless, Sargsyan did not keep his promise and on April 9, 2018, upon completion of his second term, he was nominated by the RPA and on April 17, he was elected to the position of Prime Minister in the National Assembly. Just a few days later, on April 23, under public pressure, Sargsyan resigned.
However, the “suit tailored” to Serzh Sargsyan and the “super-Prime Minister” system continues to function: now it is “used” by Nikol Pashinyan.
Referendum against the president of the Constitutional Court
Another trial was awaiting the Constitution of Armenia in 2020. In 2018, the government that came to power due to the revolution, initiated a constitutional referendum, trying to depose the then President of the Constitutional Court, Hrayr Tovmasyan. It was planned to hold the referendum on April 5, 2020, they even started the “Yes” campaign, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed and then canceled.
According to the draft constitutional amendments, the parliamentary majority proposed to terminate the powers of the President of the Constitutional Court, Hrayr Tovmasyan, and 6 members. In particular, according to the proposed amendments, it was planned to terminate the tenure of the President and members of the Constitutional Court elected before April 9, 2018. The draft did not touch upon only the judges Arman Dilanyan (the current President of the CC) and Vahe Grigoryan.
“When will we have a Constitutional Court of our dream that will not be under the subordination of any political group? Will we have such a Constitutional Court or not? Yes, we will, unless we change something, we will have such a court, attention, in 2035. I reiterate, unless anything changes, unless we change anything, we will have such a court in 2035 at the earliest. Why, because when writing the transitional provisions of the current Constitution, the representatives of the former RPA government provided such wording that the old, the old and well-known Constitutional Court will continue to function as long as possible,” Nikol Pashinyan stated in his speech at the National Assembly 11 days before the start of the referendum campaign, on February 6, 2020.
A few days later, on February 9, he stated on his Facebook page that the President had signed a decree designating the date of the referendum.
“On April 5, we say Yes to the Revolution, we say Yes to Freedom, we say Yes to the Future and we slam the door on the corrupt. Be brave.”
However, this enthusiasm remained half-hearted, and due to the spread of COVID-19, a state of emergency was declared in the country on March 16, due to which all the activities carried out for the purpose of preparing and holding the referendum on constitutional amendments were halted (Article 208 of the Constitution).
At the beginning of June, the National Assembly adopted a law that gave the right to cancel the referendum announced to amend the Constitution. The referendum was canceled, and the constitutional amendments were immediately put into circulation, which allowed the ousting of the President of the Constitutional Court and the judges of the “former regime.” As a result, on June 22, 2020, the National Assembly with 89 votes in favor, with no objections and no abstentions, in the second reading, completely adopted the draft of constitutional amendments presented by a group of deputies of the “My Step” faction.
Debates about constitutional amendments are still ongoing in Armenia. There is a Constitutional Reforms Council, which regularly submits proposals to the government. However, the Council and the current authorities did not find a common ground on the final version.
Arpine Hovhannisyan
