YEREVAN. – Even though the people of Armenia have unequivocally said “no” to the constitutional amendments, the referendum was ruthlessly rigged by the use of the whole arsenal of unlawfulness which the authorities master. 

Opposition Armenian National Congress National Assembly (ANC NA) Faction Head Levon Zurabyan, who also headed the joint headquarters of the “No” campaign against the constitutional referendum, on Monday told the aforesaid to reporters at Parliament.

“We are boycotting the activities of this [NA] session because after all this, it’s very hard to sit [in Parliament] with the people who bear accountability for the crime committed,” Zurabyan said. “A violation of the people’s will has taken place.” 

To the remark that the authorities say evidence needs to be submitted if voting fraud was committed in the referendum, the ANC MP responded: “First and foremost, the [respective] evidence is numerous; we will submit it. (…) [But] no one can give you exact data on how many votes were actually rigged.”

On Monday morning, Central Electoral Commission Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan announced that 825,851 people—or 63.35 percent of voters—said “yes,” whereas 421,600 people—or 32.35 percent—said “no” to the proposed amendments.

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.