Ter-Petrossian: Classic Bourgeois Democratic Revolution

RFE/RL reports that presidential candidate and now figurehead for the radical opposition movement in the country, Levon Ter-Petrossian, has described the daily protest actions in Yerevan’s Liberty Square as a “classic bourgeois democratic revolution.” Ter Petrossian also took the time to respond to statements made by his successor, outgoing president Robert Kocharian, aired the night before on Public TV.

Addressing the massive crowd in Liberty Square, Ter-Petrosian claimed that Kocharian has no moral right to attack his opponents because he himself has repeatedly broken law during his decade-long presidency. “Robert Kocharian’s authority has been illegal right from the beginning,” said the former Armenian president. “Under the constitution, he was not even eligible to run for president neither in 1998, nor in 2003.”

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The protesters also walked past the Russian Embassy in Yerevan, urging Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to back their remands for a re-run of the February 19 presidential election.

In his speech, Ter-Petrosian said that the round-the-clock protests against the alleged falsification of election results are gaining growing momentum but would not say how long he intends to keep his supporters on the streets. “What is happening now is a pure, classic bourgeois democratic revolution to free the economy from a feudal yoke,” he said, adding that his movement is tacitly backed by “thousands of representatives of state structures, ministries and even the presidential staff.”