On 25 June, the chairman of Armenia’s Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan, as well as three other members of the body (Alvina Gyulumyan, Felix Tokhyan and Hrant Nazaryan) stated that they had no intention to resign despite government-backed constitutional changes mandating their replacement. 

They said that the amendments passed by the National Assembly on 22 June cannot come into force because they run counter to another Armenian law. The judges argued that the authorities had not made similar changes to a separate law pertaining to the Constitutional Court which exempts them from the 12-year term limit. “The authorities should comply with that law and not transcend the bounds of their legal powers,” added the statement. 

Armenia’s Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan dismissed the joint statement saying that the constitution takes precedence over the law they cited. “The political forces that are trying to create an artificial agenda are not capable of muddling up the programs [in] the halls of power in any way; these are meaningless attempts. Yesterday, one of the funniest incidents in the political history of Armenia was registered: They decided that if ‘a little’ votes were not enough, the number could be ‘slightly rounded,’ which also attests to the level of that fight. The amendments to the Constitution have entered into force, the powers of three judges of the CC have terminated, as well as the power of Hrayr Tovmasyan to hold office as CC president,” Badasyan added.

In the meantime, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) alongside the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and the Hayrenik (Fatherland) party have pledged to work together in challenging the government and “restoring the constitutional order” in the country. 

In a joint statement, the party leaders said that they will form a “working group” tasked with drawing up a plan of joint actions and coordinating its implementation. The statement gave no details. The leader of Hayrenik party Artur Vanetsyan also hinted that the three parties would hold anti-government rallies, but not during the country’s state of emergency.

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded to the announced cooperation of the three Armenian opposition parties.  “The political bacteria think that they have got a chance to revive themselves. Now they are talking of famine, social revolts … You should be afraid of that social revolt because if it happens we have nothing to become victims of a social revolt,” he said.

“It’s your illegally built mansions and Bentleys that will first and foremost become victims of a social revolt. Do you want a social revolt? Provoke a social revolt. We’ll see where you will end up as a result of that social revolt,” he added. Pashinyan also said that “only those political forces that unequivocally support the values” of the 2018 “Velvet Revolution” will be represented in Armenia’s next parliament, which is due to be elected in 2023.