YEREVAN. - The door of dialogue with authorities is half open, Armenia’s first president and leader of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) Levon Ter-Petrosyan stated at the ANC rally on Thursday.
He expressed confidence that all jailed opposition activists will be released by the time of next rally scheduled for May 31.
“Nikol Pashinyan, Sasun Mikaelyan and other political prisoners will speak from the platform,” he said.
Ter-Petrosyan’s words regarding the date of the next rally were not welcomed by most of his supporters, the Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent reports.
“We waited for 3 years and one month. Now it is not the time to endanger possibility of a dialogue over prospects for recovery of the political atmosphere in the country,” he said in response to crowd’s protests against his words.
Levon Ter-Petrosyan also touched upon three demands of the opposition. According to him, the demand to hold rallies in Liberty Square was fully satisfied by the authorities.
As regards investigation into the March 1m 2008 events, the president just gave relevant instructions.
“Of course, these are mere words. We will have to wait for precise actions. The authorities will try to shift blame on second-rate officials but we will control the process,” he added.
As to release of the opposition activists, the ANC leader stressed it is the matter of time. Levon Ter-Petrosyan made a reference to president’s statement, assuming they will be released on the occasion of Republic Day on May 28.
