Andreas Ghoukasyan, the presidential candidate who staged a one month hunger strike to protest Armenia’s fake elections, joined the rally in support of Raffi Hovannisian at Freedom Square.

From the podium, Ghoukasyan congratulated Hovannisian and thanked him for uniting the public and for achieving something that the opposition hadn’t done for years.

Ghoukasyan stressed that this was only the first step towards the road to eventual victory.

“We will only register a victory when we have been able to force the regime into confessing the violations they have committed and when the government declares the official elections results as invalid,” he told the crowds.

He told rally participants that any success is dependent on their determination and perseverance.

Ghoukasyan said it was vital for the public at large to make it clear that it does not accept the election results and that civil disobedience was a valid tactic in this regard.

Civil disobedience, he told the crowd, was when citizens did not recognize the legitimacy of the government and its illegal laws.

“If the ruling party fails to understand this message and continues to proclaim itself the elected authority in Armenia, then it must also understand that it will signal the start of civil disobedience and the end of the ruling party.”