Protests as Armenia Votes to Curb Presidential Powers
Armenians voted to curb presidential powers in a disputed referendum, official results showed Monday, sparking calls for protests from the opposition which says the reforms are aimed at keeping the ruling elite in power.
Around two-thirds (63 percent) backed the constitutional changes in Sunday's referendum, with 32 percent voting against, according to preliminary results from the election commission.
Turnout stood at 51 percent.
The reforms will make the president a ceremonial figure, elected by parliament for a term of seven years instead of the current five.
The government said the changes were needed to shake up the political system and strengthen democracy in the former Soviet state.
But the opposition cried foul, claiming that the real aim is to keep President Serzh Sarkisian, in power after his second term ends in 2018.
"What happened today is state treason," a top opposition leader, Raffi Hovannisyan, told supporters at a rally early Monday, calling on the president and prime minister to resign and vowing mass protests.
The opposition also complained of widespread violations at polling stations and called on Armenians to take to the streets.
Some 500 protesters rallied in the capital Yerevan on Sunday night, demanding the results be annulled.
On Thursday, Sarkisian refused to repeat his earlier pledge not to run for any government office after his second and last term as president expires and defended his initiative, saying it will empower the opposition.
A shrewd former military officer, Sarkisian, 61, has been in charge of the small landlocked nation of 2.9 million since winning a vote in 2008.
After that poll, 10 people died in bloody clashes between police and supporters of the defeated opposition candidate.
Sarkisian won a second term in 2013.
Source: Agence France Presse
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