Ter-Petrossian Press Conference

The Armenian Observer posts a video of a press conference held by Levon Ter-Petrossian currently under de facto house arrest. The blog also provides a summary of what the former president said. In particular, Ter-Petrossian criticizes the recent constitutional court ruling that the results of the 18 February presidential election stand, that permission to hold a rally after the state of emergency is lifted have has not been granted by the municipality, and that the government will not be able to rule the country unless negotiations to break the stand-off with the opposition occur.

According to Ter-Petrossian, the authorities talk about the necessity of a dialogue but “they do everything to disrupt that possibility, with all their steps contributing to a tenser situation.” Ter-Petrossian repeated his approach that he had presented at the Constitutional Court –taking the suggestions of the European Union statement as a basis and turning them into a plan of actions. The European Union had offered to stop the state of emergency, release the arrested people, eliminate the restrictions of the media activities and implement an independent investigation of the incidents on March 1. According to Ter-Petrossian, the acceptance of these offers can become a full-fledged basis for negotiations and a dialogue.