YEREVAN. – The march by New Armenia Public Salvation Front, and with a demand that the referendum on constitutional amendments be declared null and void, ended Monday at around 3am (PHOTOS).

After several unsuccessful attempts at coming near the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and personally meeting with CEC Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan, participants in the march returned to Liberty Square—in downtown capital city Yerevan—, from where the march had begun.

At the square, head of the New Armenia front’s Joint Opposition Headquarters, opposition Founding Parliament initiative senior representative, and Karabakh War veteran Jirair Sefilian, announced that although their action has ended for the day, the sit-in at Liberty Square—and which had begun on December 1—is still in progress, and some members of their movement likewise will spend overnight at the square.

New Armenia will be holding another rally at Liberty Square, on Monday at 4pm.

To note, nine participants in the march were detained, but they were released sometime thereafter.

The referendum on Armenia’s constitutional amendments was conducted on Sunday.

Following the independence of Armenia in 1991, the Constitution was adopted on July 5, 1995, which is marked as Constitution Day.

The Constitution was amended in 2005, and the country switched from a presidential to a semi-presidential system of governance.

And pursuant to the currently proposed amendments, the country will make a transition from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary system of governance, and conduct completely proportional parliamentary elections.

The opponents of these amendments, however, consider them to be primarily the authorities’ attempt to hang on to power.