Jirayr Sefilyan calls for greater public participation through national "tithe" Alex Yenigomshyan, a former member of ASALA, described the current political course of the Armenian government as leading towards a "demographic calamity" and noted that in the past twenty years one-third of the population has voted with its feet and left the country and that the exodus continues. Hayk Balanyan, an economist by profession who fought in the Artsakh War and is a member of Sardarabad, ruled out any possibility of cooperation with the current regime in power. He said that any attempt to change the government through the electoral process was illusory since that same government came to power through election fraud. Mr. Balanyan called for new mechanisms of resistance. Arpine Galfayan, Director of the Institute of Human Rights and Democracy, stressed the importance of labor unions to defend the rights of the working class and their civil rights. Hrayr Savzyan, President of the environmental organization Ecolur presented a list of examples outlining how the greed and avarice of the country’s business class and government officials has lead to the pitiful and endangered state of Armenia’s environment. Jirayr Sefilyan, a founding member of Sardarabad, took the floor and presented his closing remarks which called for renewed organizational efforts to solidify the organization. He proposed that a national tithe be launched as a way to facilitate greater participation of active segments of the population in the resistance movement.