Newspaper: “NO” campaign headquarters to be formed for Armenia referendum

News.am, Armenia
Feb 15 2020

11:02, 15.02.2020
                  

YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of Armenia writes: The extra-parliamentary opposition has planned its actions in connection with the referendum [on constitutional amendments]. "We are negotiating with prominent political forces, we already have arrangements to jointly explain to the common people what is happening in Armenia today," ARF Supreme Body representative Ishkhan Saghatelyan said.

“The political forces did not want to be in the headquarters of the 'no,' but that does not mean that we will not actively fight against the 'yes' to prevent this illegal situation and relax the public nerves. There was no need for the political forces to become anti-heroes and for the power to turn them into a target; we preferred this tactic,” said Artur Ghazinyan, leader of the One Armenia party.

The 'no' platform will occupy the legal coexistence as a fighter of professional struggle. If they did not, then the opportunities provided by the referendum—free airtime, appointing commission members, overseeing the referendum—would be diminished.

"The authorities should not be left without such oversight. The scope of our initiative includes people who filed a petition with the president of the republic a week ago not to sign the referendum document," said representative of the "no" campaign office, former Ombudsman of Artsakh Ruben Melikyan. And aren’t you legitimizing the illegal referendum? "No. By this step, we are keeping the whole absurd process of referendum under the spotlight of ourselves and the public, so as not to make it even more illegal; we are creating a platform for opinions that exclude ‘yes.’"