New Constitution to make Armenian’s status as sole state language unamendable, says Parliament Speaker

National Assembly Speaker Ruben Rubinyan said the new Constitution would make the article establishing Armenian as the Republic of Armenia’s sole state language unamendable.

Rubinyan made the remarks in a video posted on his Facebook page.

“Under the new Constitution, the article establishing Armenian as the Republic of Armenia’s sole state language will become unamendable. This means that, unlike under the current Constitution, it will no longer be possible to amend that article and, consequently, change the state language or add other state languages. Why is this important? Because this will protect the main pillar of our national identity: our language,” the Parliament Speaker said.

Rubinyan criticised proposals by various figures to grant state-language status to other languages, mentioning Russian and English in this context.

“No, we do not need new state languages. Armenian is a state language, the language of the people who founded the state. It has fulfilled its role as a state language for centuries and must do so forever,” he said.

The Parliament Speaker also called for steps to ensure that the opposition did not obstruct the adoption of the amendment.