ANC failed to carry out change of power because riot police opened fired - Arman Grigoryan

Opposing Armenian National Congress (ANC) failed to carry out change of power in the country following the March 1, 2008 post-election events because the riot police opened fire at the protestors, an oppositionist has said.

Speaking at a press conference today, Arman Grigoryan, the ANC representative to the Council of Europe (CoE), said that the ANC did not want to do that by destabilizing the situation in the country.

"Why it failed to carry out change of power? [Because] they opened fire. … Because the authorities are firmly against the idea of holding free, just and extraordinary elections," said he.

"No change of power took place because we did not want to do it through destabilizing the country and through illegal, anti-constitutional measure," said he.

Further, he said that chances might be high to do it, had they decided to resort to illegal measure.

"May be the chances for a change of power would be high, had we behaved that way. But we don't need that power," he explained.

Grigoryan went on saying that instead the ANC has done something as much important as the change of power. It has succeeded "to create civic society," he explained.

"Were not the March 1 and political prisoners, I am even glad that the change of power has been belated. Positively speaking little would have been changed in Armenia, were we to come to power in March 1, 2008," Grigoryan said.