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ARMENIAN OPPOSITION RESCHEDULES PROCESSION TO PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE
TERT.AM
13:44 ~U 27.03.13
An Armenian opposition activist has declared a plan for rescheduling
an April 8 peaceful procession to the presidential office.
At a news conference on Wednesday, the author of the initiative,
Arshak Zakaryan, said the idea forced them to give explanations not
only to the authorities but also the activists and co-thinkers of
the popular movement which followed the presidential election.
"They treated the initiative with suspicion and antipathy from
the very start," said he, adding that the group is now accused of
frustrating the efforts to organize what the opposition claims to be
the inauguration of Raffi Hovhannisian, the opposition Heritage party's
leader, who secured 37% of votes in last month's presidential election.
Zakaryan said he had proposed the plan in order to assist the
organizers - the former candidate, and Nikol Pashinyan, an MP of the
opposition Armenian National Congress.
Hovhannisian disputes the voting results, considering himself the true
winner in the February 18 election. He is now holding a hunger-strike
in Yerevan's Liberty Square, urging the re-elected president to admit
his "defeat" and quit office.
"We failed, unfortunately, to reach a common agreement. After talking
to Heritage representatives and Raffi Hovhannisian in person, we
arrived at the conclusion that we do not need the scapegoat role. So
we decided to postpone the civic procession," he added.
The group is now planning to conduct the event on May 1.
Asked about the choice of the date, Zakaryan explained, "That's
first of all the International Workers' Day. It is that group of the
society complains that complains it is no longer possible to live on
like this."
Andrias Ghukasyan, a former presidential candidate also attending
the news conference, said he has also decided to join the initiative.
"That's a practical proposal that helps unite political and civil
forces and conduct a crowded procession on May 1 to express our
society's intolerance and disobedience to the authorities," he noted.
Ghukasyan proposed conducting a meeting of interested parties before
the event. "That meeting will be open to anyone who is interested
in the country's problems and [the efforts to combat] corruption,"
he said.
TERT.AM
13:44 ~U 27.03.13
An Armenian opposition activist has declared a plan for rescheduling
an April 8 peaceful procession to the presidential office.
At a news conference on Wednesday, the author of the initiative,
Arshak Zakaryan, said the idea forced them to give explanations not
only to the authorities but also the activists and co-thinkers of
the popular movement which followed the presidential election.
"They treated the initiative with suspicion and antipathy from
the very start," said he, adding that the group is now accused of
frustrating the efforts to organize what the opposition claims to be
the inauguration of Raffi Hovhannisian, the opposition Heritage party's
leader, who secured 37% of votes in last month's presidential election.
Zakaryan said he had proposed the plan in order to assist the
organizers - the former candidate, and Nikol Pashinyan, an MP of the
opposition Armenian National Congress.
Hovhannisian disputes the voting results, considering himself the true
winner in the February 18 election. He is now holding a hunger-strike
in Yerevan's Liberty Square, urging the re-elected president to admit
his "defeat" and quit office.
"We failed, unfortunately, to reach a common agreement. After talking
to Heritage representatives and Raffi Hovhannisian in person, we
arrived at the conclusion that we do not need the scapegoat role. So
we decided to postpone the civic procession," he added.
The group is now planning to conduct the event on May 1.
Asked about the choice of the date, Zakaryan explained, "That's
first of all the International Workers' Day. It is that group of the
society complains that complains it is no longer possible to live on
like this."
Andrias Ghukasyan, a former presidential candidate also attending
the news conference, said he has also decided to join the initiative.
"That's a practical proposal that helps unite political and civil
forces and conduct a crowded procession on May 1 to express our
society's intolerance and disobedience to the authorities," he noted.
Ghukasyan proposed conducting a meeting of interested parties before
the event. "That meeting will be open to anyone who is interested
in the country's problems and [the efforts to combat] corruption,"
he said.