YEREVAN. – The US embassy in Armenia on Monday issued its third statement in connection with the recent referendum on constitutional amendments in the country, 168 Zham daily reported.

“In it, it once again stressed that they are concerned by the credible reports on the irregularities during the referendum.

“The US thus implies that those involved in the process of election fraud may appear in the so-called ‘blacklists,’ which are applied for countries subject to sanctions.

“This warning is addressed to the Armenian authorities, which, not having domestic legitimacy, have always relied on the legitimacy of foreign political centers.

“Understandably, this assessment is not due solely to the course of the referendum and, apparently, it is linked to any foreign political global problem in which Armenia may directly or indirectly be involved.

“In all likelihood, this insinuation by the US contains a ‘call’ to the Armenian authorities to act independently in foreign policy issues,” 168 Zham wrote.

The referendum on Armenia’s constitutional amendments was conducted on December 6.

And according to the final protocol by the Central Electoral Commission, a total of 63.37 percent of the voters said “yes” to these amendments, whereas 32.36 percent voted “no” in this plebiscite.

Pursuant to the new amendments, the country will make a transition from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary system of governance, and conduct completely proportional parliamentary elections.