Radical opposition group starts 24/7 protests in Yerevan

 December 2, 2015 - 11:03 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - A radical opposition group seeking regime change in Armenia has pledged to stay put in the streets of Yerevan as long as it takes to thwart a controversial constitutional referendum and unseat the current government, ArmeniaNow reports.

At the start of what they said was going to be a round-the-clock rally and sit-in in Liberty Square, leaders of New Armenia, an opposition movement bringing together the parliamentary opposition Zharangutyun (Heritage) party, the extra-parliamentary Founding Parliament group, other political and civic forces opposed to the current government and its plans to change the current Constitution in favor a parliamentary republic, said that theirs was going to be an action of “peaceful disobedience” and warned the law-enforcement authorities against obeying “illegal” orders and using force against the demonstrators.

Heritage’s Raffi Hovannisian, who led similar protests in the wake of the 2013 presidential election in which he, as an official runner-up, contested the reelection of President Serzh Sargsyan, again slammed the authorities for their intention to create a “party state” with the proposed constitutional amendments. He urged his supporters and all people of Armenia to struggle for the creation of a “new Armenia”.

In his speech at the rally before an opposition march through the city, Founding Parliament member Jirair Sefilian, the head of New Armenia’s united opposition headquarters, stated: “We are not going to leave this square in the coming hours and, if needed, days… The revolution has begun.”

Unlike other forces campaigning for a “No” vote in the December 6 constitutional referendum, New Armenia puts emphasis on achieving a regime change even before the ballot. It considers street protests to be the most efficient way of thwarting the controversial changes that opposition factions believe are going to benefit President Sargsyan by allowing him to stay in power in some other capacity after the end of his presidential powers in 2018.

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) dismisses such claims, arguing that the reform is needed for ensuring Armenia’s further democratization through achieving decentralization of power.

Hundreds of protesters continued their sit-in in Yerevan’s Liberty Square overnight after scuffles with riot police during a march towards the ruling Republican Party of Armenia’s (RPA) head office.

Leaders and supporters of the opposition group, New Armenia, seeking to oust President Sargsyan and scuttle the controversial constitutional reform initiated by his administration, met with police cordons on Melik-Adamyan Street just off the Armenian capital’s main Republic Square late on Tuesday, December 1.

Hovannisian and Sefilian conducted negotiations with the police, but eventually had to take their supporters back to Liberty Square.

The police accused the New Armenia leaders of “provocative actions” and urged them to “sober up”. “The organizers of the gathering will bear full responsibility for the consequences of such actions,” it warned in a statement.

Hovannisian and other leaders of the movement defied the warning, saying that a round-the-clock sit-in in Liberty Square would be held on a daily basis.

Another alliance of opposition parties – the No front – formed around ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s Armenian National Congress (ANC), plans to hold its rally in Liberty Square on December 3.

Addressing the New Armenia gathering on Tuesday, the ANC’s Vladimir Karapetyan denied any differences among the opposition groups campaigning against the constitutional changes and seeking regime change.

Unlike New Armenia, however, the No front puts more emphasis on the ballot and urges its supporters to actively participate in the referendum, saying a decisive “No” to the proposed changes.