Epress.am News from Armenia
The Armenian National Congress (HAK) declared the nonstop protests, which the opposition bloc and its supporters had been staging for 8 days in Yerevan’s Liberty Square, over on Saturday evening.
“It is being proposed to immediately cancel this event. It is suggested to stop at this time [but] to hold a sit-in and rally for an unlimited period at the required moment,” said HAK leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrossian, who began his speech by presenting a statement adopted by the bloc called “a resolution on the round-the-clock sit-in/rally.”
The announcement provoked cries of discontent from sections of the crowd that demanded that the round-the-clock sit-in continue until Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s administration agrees to call early presidential and parliamentary elections, RFE/RL’s Armenian service reports.
The opposition leader asserted that the nonstop rallies unified the political parties in the bloc. “The more active we are, the more the international community will make decisions in our favor. The world does not like nations who don’t struggle,” he said.
The HAK set up a tent camp in Liberty Square on Sept. 30 in hopes of stepping up pressure on the Armenian authorities. At the same time, it offered to resume talks with Sargsyan’s ruling coalition without preconditions.
Ter-Petrossian’s bloc previously made their resumption conditional on the release of an opposition activist controversially arrested in August.
Coalition representatives have made clear that they will not negotiate with the HAK until the “illegal” protests are over. In another sign of its self-confidence, the Sargsyan administration has still not responded to another, more far-reaching offer made by Ter-Petrossian.
Speaking on Sept. 23, Armenia’s first president said the HAK is ready to reconsider its demands for fresh elections in case of a “reasonable compromise” with the government.
The HAK statement read out by Ter-Petrossian sought to put a brave face on the bloc’s failure so far to clinch concessions from Sargsyan. It said the eight-day protests ended “the atmosphere of fear” in Armenia and debunked “the myth about the omnipotence of the [ruling] kleptocracy.” It urged HAK supporters to be prepared for a repeat of such actions “at the required moment.”
“Beginning today, our main slogan will be the immediate resignation of Serzh Sargsyan,” he continued.
Ter-Petrossian also announced that HAK will hold its next rally on Oct. 28, when it will announce its next steps.