In an interview with iLur.am, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first President of Armenia, Leader of the opposition Armenian National Congress, ruled out the possibility of the use of force by the authorities during the opposition's rally on April 28.
He said that in 2008 the authorities were much stronger when they used force during the March rallies of the opposition. "At that time the socio-economic situation in the country was also much more favorable than now. So, the public discontent had not yet developed into a nationwide hatred. The movement formed around my personality following the presidential election, was solely fighting against the authorities, whereas now the fight has consolidated four parliamentary forces, which can mobilize much more people together", says Ter-Petrosyan.
He adds that 6 years ago he fully enjoyed the foreign forces' support, whereas now he has turned into "an international alien". "Moreover, six years ago Sargsyan did not see the resignation scenarios of Gaddafi, Yanukovich, Mubarak. In short, Serzh Sargsyan no longer has resources to resist the opposition. By sacrificing the prime minister, he proved his weakness and confessed his defeat. Now he only has to gratefully take our guarantees of his inviolability and humbly resign", says Ter-Petrosyan.