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Former Ombudsman of Artsakh, lawyer Ruben Melikyan, who is leading the campaign for a “No” vote in Armenia’s constitutional referendum, reiterated on Tuesday that the process runs counter to the Constitution.

Melikyan’s group composed of over 60 civic activists and lawyers filed a bid for the constitutional referendum ‘No” campaign with the Central Electoral Commission on Tuesday morning. The referendum is scheduled for April 5. 

Speaking to reporters before the submission of the necessary documents, the lawyer stated legitimacy is generally a political rather than legal category. “Our initiative group consists solely of lawyers operating outside the state system,” he said in response to the remarks that opposition forces refused to campaign for a “No” vote, arguing that it would legitimize the process.

Melikyan emphasized that their dilemma is not legitimacy or non-legitimacy, but lawfulness and unlawfulness of the referendum.

“We reiterate that this process has been unlawful. This referendum is unconstitutional both in terms of its content and procedure. Without being politicians, we cannot legitimize or delegitimize anything,” he explained.

He expressed confidence that the process could have more serious consequences for the Armenian statehood if it were not for the “No” campaign for the referendum.

Melikyan reinstated that their initiative pursues two main goals: to enable the Armenian citizens to have access to the arguments justifying both “Yes” vote and other options excluding it, as well as to give the citizens of Armenia and the international community the confidence that the voting results have been monitored and appealed.

“We will do our best to avoid a sharp confrontation between the parties supporting the “Yes” or “No” votes. We will make every effort to eliminate the vicious phenomena of dividing the public into colors and propagating hatred in this period,” he said.