At a rally today in Gyumri, the New Armenia Public Salvation Front (NAPSF) urged citizens to vote ‘no’ in the December 6 referendum that will decide whether the country’s constitution is substantially changed or not.

NAPSF members and supporters walked towards Gyumri’s Theater Square, where the rally was to be held, calling on passersby to join them.

Their calls went unheeded for the most part. Only a handful of people assembled, mostly seniors, to hear a number of speeches by NAPSF leaders.

Garegin Choukaszyan (photo), president of the opposition Founding Parliament, told onlookers that Gyumri had always proven its merit by voting against regime candidates in presidential elections and by supporting Raffi Hovannisan.

(Hovannisian, leader of the opposition Heritage Party, beat Serzh Sargsyan in Gyumri in the 2013 presidential election.)

“We have again come to Gyumri to summarize our campaign. But we have come not only to say no to constitutional change but to the criminal regime as well,” Choukaszyan declared.

He urged Gyumri residents to attend a rally in Yerevan on December 1organized by the NAPSF to oppose changes to the constitution.

Armen Martirosyan, representing the Heritage Party (also a member of the NAPSF), said that they weren’t battling Serzh Sargsyan or the regime.

“We are struggling for the Republic of Armenia,” Martirosyan said.

He called on rally attendees to organize and launch acts of peaceful civil disobedience as of December 1.

Raffi Hovannisian and Founding Parliament member Jirayr Sefilyan also spoke at the rally.