YEREVAN. – The [former ruling] Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) reiterates that the referendum set for April 5 is unconstitutional, illegal, and antidemocratic. The RPA Executive Body noted this in a statement.

The statement also says that the whole process of initiating a referendum, in its content and procedure, is grossly inconsistent with the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, and the political subtext of the issue has nothing to do with guidelines for building a country of law and strengthening democracy.

As per the statement, the sole purpose of this "adventurism" is to have a silent and obedient Constitutional Court, which not only will not solve the real problems facing the citizens of Armenia, but is another step in destroying statehood.

According to the RPA statement, the referendum’s agenda is destructive, and it is an opportunity to distract the public from the most important issues and hide the failures of the authorities.

"We (…) announce our decision not to participate in the unconstitutional referendum campaign in any way," the RPA statement also reads. "At the same time, we alert with regret that the reaction of the international community indicates that this process is inappropriate for a Council of Europe member state, it damages the international reputation of the Republic of Armenia, which will have severe consequences in the context of advancing the country’s national agenda and aggravating regional challenges, as well as weakening Armenia’s positions in the Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh peace] negotiations.”