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Armenia’s president votes at referendum on constitutional reform

The president refused to give interviews to many reporters at the polling station

Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan ITAR-TASS/Zurab Javakhadze, archive

Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan

© ITAR-TASS/Zurab Javakhadze, archive

YEREVAN, December 6. /TASS/. Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan has voted at the Sunday referendum on amendments to the country’s Constitution.

The president refused to give interviews to many reporters at the polling station.

"I shall answer all questions after the referendum," he told the media with a smile.

Voting began in Armenia in a referendum on the Constitutional reform, according to which the country is to go over to the parliamentary form of government. A total of 1,997 polling stations opened across the country in the morning.

The elections are monitored by about 100 observers from various countries and international organizations, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. The voting will last until 8 p.m. local time (7 p.m. Moscow Time). The preliminary results are expected to be published on Monday, and the final ones - on Sunday, December 13.

The amendments to the Constitution have been initiated by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. After having forwarding the draft reform to legislators, he held a series of consultations with most political parties of the country. According to Sargsyan, the reform "will make cooperation between different branches of government more effective, establish the basis for the country’s more intensive economic development, increase the level of human rights protection and boost the institutional role of the opposition.".

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