By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska
On July 5 Armenia celebrates its constitution day. It is a public holiday.
This holiday commemorates the adoption of the pos-Soviet constitution of Armenia on this day in 1995. Armenia’s Constitution Day and the Day of the State Symbols (Flag, Emblem and Anthem) are both observed on the same day.
The constitution established Armenia as a sovereign, democratic, social state governed by the rule of law.
The constitution consisting of 220 articles defines the human being as the highest value in the Republic of Armenia, the public power’s duty to protect and respect the rights and freedoms of the people and that state power shall be exercised in conformity with the constitution and the laws, based on the separation and balance of the legislative, executive and judicial powers.
The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia discusses the official definition of color. Colours red, blue, and orange signify the Armenian Highlands and the people’s struggle for existence, the will of the Armenian people to live in peace, and the creativity and tenacity of the Armenian people.
Historic background
Armenia became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1992 the first draft of the new constitution was presented and three years later a national referendum took place. The constitution has been amended twice after national referendums in 2005 and 2015.
The 2015 amendments changed the political structure from a semi-presidential system to a parliamentary republic.
In 2018, a Velvet Revolution took place in Armenia. The plan was to change the constitution again. A national referendum was planned in 2020 for a new constitution but due to COVID-19 it did nog take place.
source: armenpress, https://www.president.am/en/constitution-2015/
image: Afbeelding van jorono via Pixabay
Author: Beata Bruggeman-Sękowska is an award-winning international journalist, TV correspondent, author, chief editor of international journalism centre, Central and Eastern Europe Centre, president of the European Institute on Communist Oppression and a sworn translator. She was born in Warsaw, Poland and has also Armenian blood and roots in Lvov, which is part of Ukraine. She has been living in Heerlen, the Netherlands since 2005.
