Pashinyan to ‘establish the Fourth Republic of Armenia’ if re-elected in 2026

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced plans to establish the ‘Fourth Republic of Armenia’ if re-elected in the 2026 parliamentary elections. As part of the establishment of a ‘fourth republic’, they intend to adopt a new constitution — a long-standing Azerbaijani demand.

The announcement was made on 20 September during Civil Contract’s seventh congress.

As the re-elected chair of the party, Pashinyan presented the draft declaration of the Civil Contract party, disclosing its intentions of establishing the Fourth Republic as its ‘future strategic action’.

The intention was ‘guided by the state interests’ of Armenia, the analyses of the history of the Third Republic established in 1991, ‘based on the ideology of the Real Armenia’, among other elements.

Real Armenia is a concept introduced by Pashinyan in April 2024, emphasising that Armenians must accept modern Armenia within its current borders.

Pashinyan suggests Russia used Nagorno-Karabakh as ‘a leash’ on Armenia

In a scathing hour-long speech, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hit out at Russia, accusing it of dragging Armenia to war, and suggesting that it used the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to keep Armenia ‘on a leash’. In an hour-long speech to parliament on Wednesday, Pashinyan alluded that ‘some states’ — an allusion to Russia — used the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to ‘constrain’ Armenia. Pashinyan stated that none of the negotiation opportunities that had arisen since 2016 offered solutions to the c

OC MediaArshaluys Barseghyan

The declaration adopted during the congress stated that after receiving the ‘people’s vote of confidence’ in the 2026 elections, the party will initiate the process of adopting a new constitution through a national referendum.

The declaration was heavily focused on the party’s commitment to the peace process, with emphasis on intensifying efforts aimed at joining the EU.

Civil Contract’s declaration was adopted a day after the second anniversary of Azerbaijan’s last offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, which led to the mass exodus of virtually the region’s entire Armenian population. It also came just ahead of the 34th anniversary of Armenia’s Independence Day on 21 September.

The last bus out of Nagorno-Karabakh

With the exodus of practically the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh now complete, many of those forced to start new lives from scratch reflect on what — and who — they have left behind. On the road to Goris on 29 September, cars with bundles tied to their roofs and trucks full of personal possessions filled the road. Goris, a town in southern Armenia, was the place where those who fled Nagorno-Karabakh in fear arrived to register and find temporary shelter. The vehicles, with mattres

OC MediaArshaluys Barseghyan

Armenian officials did not publicly commemorate the 19 September anniversary; instead, on the same day, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan awarded orders and medals to a number of individuals on the occasion of Armenia’s Independence Day.

Azerbaijan reiterates its demands for a new constitution

On the same day as Pashinyan’s party announced its commitment to change the constitution if elected in 2026, Azerbaijan reiterated that signing a peace treaty would only be possible with a change in Armenia’s constitution.

The two countries had already initialled the peace treaty in Washington on 8 August, in a summit which also saw them agree to the establishment of a route connecting Azerbaijan and its exclave of Nakhchivan through Armenia — the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement on State Sovereignty Day, saying that the results of the Washington summit ‘once again confirmed the peace agenda’.

‘In order not to miss this historic peace opportunity, it is necessary to eliminate territorial claims in the Armenian Constitution in order to sign a peace agreement’, the statement read.

Azerbaijani officials, including President Ilham Aliyev, have repeatedly stated that Armenia’s constitution contained territorial claims against Azerbaijan, and demanded it be changed.

Armenia’s constitution references the Declaration of Independence, which in turn references a joint statement made by Soviet Armenia’s Supreme Council and the Nagorno-Karabakh National Council on their ‘reunification’.

Armenia has officially expressed its intention to change the constitution, however it insists that it would not be doing so based on Azerbaijan’s demands.

Armenia seeks to reframe security perspective, Pashinyan and other officials say

The comments follow an announcement in August that defence spending of Armenia may not be increased in 2026.

OC MediaNate Ostiller