Armenian opposition movement stages another election rally

Arminfo
9 Mar 07

Yerevan, 9 March: Leaders of the Alternative public movement and the
Impeachment bloc intend to continue rallies in central Yerevan until
the number of their participants reaches at least 50,000.

"I am happy that I am not alone on this square. The power of skinheads
forces to make Armenians feel alone in their homeland. We will stand
on this square until all people who consider themselves worthy
citizens and feel responsibility for the future of the country will
leave their armchairs and join us," the editor of Haykakan Zhamanak
newspaper and one of the leaders of the Impeachment bloc has said from
the rostrum of Alternative’s rally.

He said that he had made a mistake by not interfering when 150,000
people went to opposition rallies in 2003 but some opposition leaders
went to drink tea. "It was necessary to say then ‘go wherever you
like, we will take over the rostrum ourselves’," [Haykakan Zhamanak
editor Nikol] Pashinyan said.

Vahagn Khachatryan, former mayor of Yerevan when the Armenian
Pan-National Movement was in power, said that Armenian authorities
will not manage to infringe the freedom of speech in the country. "We
realize that the management and employees of TV channels do not act on
their will. The regime dictates to them . There is no need to conduct
any monitoring of the media. Taking into account air time given to the
Republican Party of Armenia, the Prosperous Armenia Party and the
People’s Party, the forthcoming parliamentary election can be declared
rigged," Khachatryan said.

[Passage omitted: other speakers]

About 500 participants attended today’s rally of the Alternative
movement which was the third of the kind. This is more than twice less
than the number of participants in the previous rally.