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The draft of the new Constitution is expected to be published by the end of the year, following the conclusion of discussions with partners. Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan announced this during the National Assembly-Government question-and-answer session.
She also stressed that the text circulated online in recent days had never been a working or draft version developed by the Ministry of Justice at any stage.
“First of all, I want to say that the text that was published has nothing to do with the text developed by the Ministry of Justice and has never been any kind of working or draft version, because there was another attempt to manipulate our denial by saying that perhaps at some point it had been a working version. No, a text with such content has never been the subject of discussion as a draft Constitution,” Galyan said.
According to the Minister, the actual text of the draft new Constitution is expected to be published by the end of 2026.
“As for the publication of the actual draft, we expect that by the end of the year, after concluding discussions with our partners, the text will be published,” she said.
According to Galyan, opposition forces also have an opportunity to become involved in discussions on the Constitution, including before the full text is published.
“As for the opposition’s involvement in discussing the text, even before the text is published, we are open and ready to discuss the provisions that have been or will be discussed by the Constitutional Reform Council. Why? Because the opposition has seats on the Constitutional Reform Council,” the Minister said.
According to her, after the draft is published, a broad phase of public communication and discussions is planned.
“After the text is published, we will embark on public communication and, essentially, put that text into circulation. We will gather the opinions of all interested bodies and individuals, discuss them and consider in what direction, if any, the text of the Constitution should be changed,” Galyan said.
The Justice Minister stressed that the document to be published will not be the final version.
“The text that will be published will not be the final text, but a draft that will go through the appropriate stages of circulation. And during those stages, I also do not rule out discussing the text and working together with our opposition colleagues, if there is a desire to do so,” Galyan said.
On September 8, a document circulated online that some users presented as a draft of Armenia’s new Constitution. On the same day, the Ministry of Justice officially denied the information, stating that the circulated document was not the draft of the new Constitution and that the information concerning it was false.