Armenian opposition fights against constitutional amendments

/By AzerNews/

By Laman Sadigova

Protests in Armenia, on the eve of the referendum, are occurring against a backdrop of the significant differences in resources available to the authorities and opposition.

The referendum, scheduled for December 6, stipulates constitutional changes that are opposed by ordinary Armenians.

Despite there being the law “On referendum” which bans participation of officials in the campaign, Hovik Abrahamian, Armenian Prime Minister, heads the Republican Party calling on to vote “for” the changes.

Meanwhile, the country's population and opposition are using their resources to prevent the amendments from being adopted, in a bid to prevent authorities from abusing their power.

The main concern of the opposition is that these constitutional changes are being made in order to keep President Serzh Sargsyan in power after his second and final term that expires in 2018.

Representatives of the opposition front "No!" including the ANC party, the People's Party of Armenia and the initiative "Do not spend!" are meeting with voters throughout the country in a bid to prevent the referendum from being adopted, even though the results might be a foregone conclusion.

One more possible mechanism that can help people to fight possible fraud is the mobilization of all available human resources. Opposition organizations have repeatedly spoken about an association, hoping that the government will pay attention and listen to them.

Further, the opposition front “No” is desperately attempting to lead protests against the authorities by using the Internet.

According to "No!" official Levon Zurabyan, meetings being held in the regions demonstrate the negative attitude of the majority of citizens to the constitutional changes aimed at keeping the current government in power. Thus, the opposition wants to consolidate all political and social forces, as well as ordinary citizens who oppose the constitutional reforms.

The Armenian National Assembly approved the controversial constitutional reforms on October 5 without providing any public discussion, even after several months of intense debate and political protests opposing the reforms.