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The Constitution, rather than a change of power and snap elections, is today a priority in Armenia, deputy of the opposition ‘Armenian National Congress’ (ANC) parliamentary faction Hrant Bagratyan said during a briefing today.

“I can’t understand people who are so short-sighted as to make ten demands simultaneously – especially demands that cannot be met presently,” the MP said.

Opponents of the constitutional reform in Armenia set up the so-called ‘No’ front that currently includes two camps. The first is ‘New Armenia’ public salvation front established by opposition Heritage party and opposition civic initiative Founding Parliament. The second camp is ‘No’ movement formed by opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) and People’s Party of Armenia, which already set up a joint office for campaigning ahead of the referendum. On October 28 members of ‘No’ front issued a demand for a change of power.
To remind, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on August 21 sent the draft constitutional amendments to the country’s parliament. The draft was developed by the Special Commission on Constitutional Reforms adjunct to Armenian President. Following the debates, the Armenian parliament adopted on October 5 the draft decision of the National Assembly on its consent for the document to be put to a referendum. The decision was passed by a majority of the votes: 104 MPs voted in favor, 10 against, with 3 abstentions. The draft was supported by the factions of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), and opposition ARF-Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD) and Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP). Opposition factions ‘Heritage’ and ‘Armenian National Congress (ANC), and 2 MPs of opposition faction ‘Orinats Yerkir’ voted against. The Armenian president set December 6, 2015 as the date for the constitutional referendum. The campaign for the constitutional reform in Armenia began on October 10 and will end at midnight of December 4.