This afternoon, despite what many were anticipating, Raffi Hovanissian did not give his oath to the presidency before the Armenian public. Instead, he recited a pledge that the crowd of Barevolution supporters, copies of the constitution in hand, repeated, verse by verse. The rhetoric of his speech was the same–power to the people, the country belongs to the people, the people will all be victorious, the corrupt, dishonest leaders of Armenia will answer to the people in Liberty Square, yadda yadda yadda.

By my estimates–although I am not good with accessing crowds–there were likely about 8,000 people in attendance, maybe more. Although the event was due to start at 11:00 am, it didn’t actually get under way until after noontime when the square filled out since Armenians are always fashionably late, even for a revolution.

The youth movement put on a great display when they walked into the square, carrying orange banners and chanting, ready for the next move. Everyone was ready.

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