YEREVAN. – The referendum on constitutional amendments was held in a normal way. And does anyone have a mechanism for measuring fair elections?

MP Mikayel Melkumyan of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), which supported these amendments, told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He stated this commenting on the announcements by the opposition that the results of this plebiscite were rigged.

“There can always be some [voting] fraud which[, however,] will not substantially change the content,” Melkumyan said. “But I believe this has not had that dramatic effect.

“I believe the public discontent is from the socioeconomic condition [in Armenia]. I describe [as] normal elections; I’m not saying democratic.”

According to preliminary data by the Central Electoral Commission, 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.

But the voter turnout in the referendum was quite low, as 1,303,466 people, or 50.51 percent of the voters, had cast their ballots in this plebiscite.

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