YEREVAN. – Discourse between Armenia’s authorities and the [opposition] Armenian National Congress (ANC) is in fact suspended, ruling Republican Party of Armenia MP—and head of the pro-government group conversing with ANC—Davit Harutyunyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am, in response to the question as to how ANC’s demands would affect the course of the dialogue. 

Harutyunyan also underlined that these demands are nothing but an attempt to raise ANC’s standing among the society. “Especially since no sound-thinking authorities would have accepted some of ANC’s demands,” Harutyunyan concluded.   

ANC’s leader and Armenia’s first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan on Friday again voiced the opposition’s demands: holding early parliamentary and presidential elections; making radical reforms in the Electoral Code; and exposing the events of March 1, 2008, within the next 3 months, and punishing the guilty. Ter-Petrosyan also demanded that ANC activist Tigran Arakelyan be released and the criminal cases launched against 7 activists be dropped.