Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the Armenian capital on Tuesday to protest against parliament’s election of former President Serzh Sarkisian as prime minister. Sarkisian was president from 2008 and demonstrators said he was switching jobs but clinging to power. Under a revised constitution approved by referendum in 2015, the prime minister will hold power while the presidency becomes largely ceremonial. Sarkisian’s ally Armen Sarkissian was sworn in as president last week after being elected by parliament and in March Sarkisian said he would become prime minister to allow him to share the benefit of his experience. “I have enough influence and power to make the executive and legislative branches of power work effectively,” Sarkisian told parliament on Tuesday. Parliament voted 77 to 17 in favor of his appointment. Holding Armenian flags and chanting "Armenia without Serzh!" protesters filled Yerevans main square after lawmakers backed the candidacy of the Kremlin-supported veteran politician with 77 to 17 votes. His second and final term as president ended last week. Local media said protests were also underway in Armenia’s two other big cities - Gyumri and Vanadzor. Police warned demonstrators to disperse or face tear gas. On Monday, dozens were injured in scuffles with police and around 80 protesters were arrested, police said. Opposition activists also held rallies in recent weeks to protest Sarkisian’s campaign to become prime minister and thousands blocked the center of the capital. “I am declaring a start of a peaceful, velvet revolution in Armenia,” opposition MP Nikol Pashinian told protesters in central Yerevan, many of whom were young people with no affiliation to a political party. "Sarkisian lacks legitimacy and has earned the hatred of Armenians," Pashinian told the rally. "We must not allow Armenias transformation into an autocratic country where the same man remains in power for an indefinite time," 23-year-old student Karen Mirzoyan, told AFP at the rally. Another protester, 38-year-old Roza Tunyan, said Sarkisian "lied to Armenians and broke his earlier promise not to become prime minister after his presidential term expires." Sarkisian blamed the opposition for the unrest. "Extinct volcanoes should not wake up if we want to live in a prosperous Armenia, in a country with the rule of law. And volcanoes will not awake if no one provokes them." The spokesman for the ruling party, Eduard Sharmazanov, has dismissed the protests as "the oppositions artificial and fake agenda". Armenia seceded from the Soviet Union in 1991 but remains dependent on Russia for aid and investment. Many Armenians accuse the government of corruption and mishandling an economy that has struggled to overcome the legacy of central planning.