“Hetq’s” reporter on the scene says that the March 1st rally called by the Armenian National Congress (HAK) has gotten underway at the Matenadaran in downtown Yerevan. The rally began by calling out the names of those who died one year ago, followed by a minute of reverential silence. Levon Zurabyan, a top HAK leader then took the microphone.

Mr. Zurabyan declared that the struggle would continue so that those who perished last year wouldn’t have died in vain. He said that HAK was growing stronger with each passing day and that the representatives of the small and medium sized business community in Armenia, as well as those engaged in the import/export trade and taxi drivers, were also joining their ranks.

The HAK leader predicted that in a few weeks the ‘true bankrupt nature of the tyrannical regime would be exposed”.

Levon Ter-Petrosyan, during his address, also viewed as alarming the advice given by European to Azerbaijan not to compare itself with Armenia but rather to Europe. Reflecting on the first anniversary of the March 1st events of last year the first President of Armenia stated that the authorities hadn’t lifted a finger to expose those responsible for the deaths one year ago.

“It is time for the regime to change its approach since the political tension of today will revert to social tension,” Mr. Ter-Petrosyan noted and added that the regime must substitute speaking in the language of the billy-club with civilized methods.

The HAK President then turned his attention to economic matters and noted that the import-export trade balance had reached $3 billion and that two-thirds was due to foreign transfers. He predicted that the imbalance would continue to grow and that the government would be forced to cut imports and this would ultimately lead to a drastic drop in the standard of living. The country would experience retreat of 10-15 years he stated and described the nation as being at the precipice.

Also joining the speakers at the podium was Aram Karapetyan, President of Armenia’s “Nor Zhamanak” (New Times) party. When asked by reporters if his presence meant that the party would be joining the ranks of HAK, Mr. Karapetyan stated that the party was uniting with the people, not with HAK.