"A1+" 01 March 2011 Dear fellow Armenians, Instead of a speech, I suggest accepting the following statement: "Registering that Armenia's current bandit regime seized power through falsified parliamentary and presidential elections and the bloody crime committed on 1 March 2008, -has ruled the country by systematically setting limits on the freedom of speech, press and rallies and brutally violating human and civil rights, -has caused a severe blow to the Armenian nation's dignity by agreeing with the creation of a commission of Armenian and Turkish historians calling into question the Armenian Genocide and adopting the anti-constitutional law on establishing foreign language schools in Armenia, -has practically aborted the opportunity for a pro-Armenian solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue through negotiations and has led the conflict to a pre-war state as a result of disgraceful and unprincipled policies, --has cynically and persistently disturbed the revelation of murders committed by the army and the police on 1 March 2008, -is involved in continuously setting limits on small and medium businesses and creating new difficulties for the socially disadvantaged, -has created an atmosphere of permissibility, impunity, widespread theft, dominance of monopolists and insolence, which has increased emigration to a devastating number, -has led the majority of the people to extreme poverty and has deprived them of the opportunity to not only live a dignified and more or less good life, but the hope and perspective of reaching that, -and finally, taking into consideration that the regime is not only unprepared, but also incapable of taking any positive step toward improving the social-economic state, establishing democracy and legality and solving foreign policy issues, which is the proof of its decline, THE RALLY ORGANIZED BY THE ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS DEMANDS THAT 1. Before March 15, that is, before the visit of the Council of Europe Co-Rapporteurs on Armenia, release all political prisoners sentenced for their political views and activities, 2. Create an independent international commission to study the events of March 1 or reinstate the Fact-Finding Group by replenishing it with international experts and set the objective of fully revealing and punishing all the culprits of that monstrous crime 3. Compensate the material damage of all citizens who suffered from the events of March 1, 4. Put an end to the police's warnings and threats to keep citizens far from rallies and political activities, 5. Fulfill the indisputable verdict of the European Court and reinstate the activities of "A1+" television, bring all acting individuals violating that verdict to justice and eliminate government control over all online media 6. Put an end to the authorities' belligerent rhetoric and reinstate the previous format of negotiations in order to get the process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution back on track, 7. Declare the infamous decisions on the prohibition of open-air street trade, terminating the activities of small stores after 8 p.m. and the compulsory car insurance, 8. Eliminate the illegal levying of the Value Added Tax for cars imported for personal use (and not for sale), 9. Convert the minimum salary in Armenia to 200 dollars and the unemployment benefit to 50% of that (100 dollars) and convert the average pension to 40% of the average salary (112 dollars), 10.Remove the draft law put up for discussion by the proposal of reformulating Article 142 of the RA Labor Code from the National Assembly's agenda according to which the issue of setting a 6-day working schedule is reserved for the employer, 11.Set state subsidies for producing the most important products by taking into consideration the market price of production and the strategic importance of lands located on the bordering regions, 12. Provide inventories and press releases regarding the properties and incomes of the previous and current highest ranking state officials and their families, starting from the presidents, prime ministers, ministers, deputy ministers, governors, mayors and ending with the judges, prosecutors, generals and deputies of the National Assembly (formerly the Supreme Council), 13. Dismiss Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, Head of the Central Bank Artur Javadyan, Head of the State Revenue Committee Gagik Khachatryan, Mayor of Yerevan Karen Karapetyan, RA Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan, Head of the National Security Service Gorik Hakobyan, RA Chief of Police Alik Sargsyan, Head of the RA Special Investigative Service Andranik Mirzoyan and Head of the Penitentiary Department at the RA Ministry of Justice Hayk Harutyunyan for humiliating flaws in economic management and ensuring legality, 14. The rally also deems it necessary to call on international organizations, as well as the United States and the European Union-member countries to put an end to the unreserved support to Armenia's dictatorial regime based on geopolitical considerations, which not only hurts the implementation of democratic reforms, but further strengthens the regime's positions, 15. If the mentioned demands or a large part of them are fulfilled, the rally authorizes the Armenian National Congress to initiate practical dialogue with the authorities and place the special presidential and parliamentary elections as the only issue on the agenda in the upcoming months." As to how this declaration will proceed and what the authorities' response will be, we will discuss that and give adequate conclusions during our next rally to be held on March 17. I think it is needless to explain that this is not just a political declaration, but a milestone-plan for the current pan-national struggle, which the members of the Congress and all participants of the massive events are obliged to follow, knowing that success is highly dependent on the discipline of our members and supporters. With that said, from this day forth, the rallies of the Armenian National Congress go from being political actions to a unique forum for social self-government with the full-fledged competency to make decisions and act.

---