 Demonstrations are a sensitive issue for the 2007 vote.
Many opposition members see public demonstrations as their best option for responding to election irregularities. The Republic Party, New Times Party and Impeachment bloc have bonded together to protest against the government after the May 12 vote if the elections are not free and fair. An initial protest, held on May 3, drew a crowd of several thousand in Yerevan.
The key question, however, could prove how many voters will feel inclined to attend such rallies. Similar demonstrations in 2004 petered out after a harsh crackdown by authorities and scanty attendance.
The government's response will also play a role. Armenians were until recently generally free to hold demonstrations in central Yerevan and other locations. However, freedom of assembly is being increasingly restricted, with the authorities since 2003 having refused to sanction most opposition rallies in the city center. An Armenian law on rallies allows them to ban street protests on vaguely defined grounds. Nonetheless, security forces still rarely disperse unsanctioned demonstrations by force.
During the run-up to the 2005 constitutional referendum, opposition parties were unable to rally supporters in Yerevan's Liberty Square, the traditional venue for such gatherings, because of daily children's concerts staged there by the municipality. The city authorities began a similar two-month festival in the sprawling square in March 2007, denying at least one opposition group permission to hold demonstrations there. The group's leaders claimed the supposedly cultural event was politically motivated.
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