The opposition Armenian National Congress, headed by ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, has decided to go for a day-night rally on Freedom Square in central Yerevan.
Ter-Petrosyan declared the demands of the opposition: to hold early presidential and parliamentary elections before the end of the year and introduce amendments to the Electoral Code before the elections. The ANC also calls for disclosure in the next three months of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of people during mass protest rallies which took place on 1 March 2008 and prosecution of those responsible.
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the head of the ANC, lost to Serzh Sargsyan in the presidential elections on 19 February 2008. On20 February 2008 he initiated rallies in Yerevan complaining about the voting results. The rallies continued until the beginning of March and caused clashes between protesters and the police, which resulted in the death of ten people, while 200 were injured.
The opposition also insists on the release of Tigran Arakelyan, who was arrested after clashes with the police on 9 August 2011 and the termination of criminal proceedings against seven young activists of the Congress. At the same time, the opposition leaders demand lifting the ban on street trading in Yerevan, terminating the "mutilation" of the architectural appearance of the capital and prohibiting the construction of skyscrapers in the centre of Yerevan.
