Protesters demanded President Serzh Sargsyan release political prisoners, prosecute those responsible for the deaths of opposition activists after the 2008 presidential election and institute democratic and socioeconomic reforms, including the right to organise in Freedom Square in downtown Yerevan.

The opposition bloc Armenian National Congress, which has played a major role in organising and leading the demonstrations, had also called for a snap election and the resignation of the government.

[14] With minor protests in Yerevan continuing and a revolutionary wave spreading throughout North Africa and Western Asia, opposition politicians like Stepan Safaryan of the Heritage party and former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who was defeated by now-President Sargsyan in the disputed 2008 election, of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) suggested in early February that political upheaval could come to Armenia.

[18] Ter-Petrosyan spoke at the rally, calling the government a "bandit regime [that] seized power through falsified parliamentary and presidential elections and the bloody crime committed on 1 March 2008" and reiterating the demands aired at the 18 February protest.

[24][25] Hovannisian, now on the second day of his hunger strike, was present in Freedom Square with his supporters but was sidelined by Ter-Petrosyan and other Armenian National Congress leaders, straining relations between Heritage and the HAK.

[27] In a ceremony at Freedom Square, Hovannisian ended his public hunger strike by eating a hunk of bread symbolically blessed by an Armenian Orthodox priest.

[28] Several female intellectuals, including a Heritage MP, held a sit-in each day in Freedom Square starting on 2 April as a "logical continuation" of Hovannisian's protest action the month before.

[32] Ter-Petrosyan said that the Sargsyan administration must fulfill three demands by 28 April: promising an "objective inquiry" into post-election violence in 2008, giving the HAK the permanent legal right to demonstrate in Yerevan's Freedom Square, and securing the release of political prisoners.

[36][37] A significant number of protesters reportedly did not take part in a march through Yerevan following Ter-Petrosyan's speech, with some continuing to occupy the square afterward rather than leave, and the former president elicited some boos, whistles, and jeers when he expressed confidence that the government would release all political prisoners within weeks.

[38][39] Raffi Hovannisian, the leader of Heritage, held an assembly in the Government Hall of Sessions in Yerevan reportedly attended by hundreds of citizens, including several fellow political figures and famous activists.

Ter-Petrosyan said that unless the government agreed to the opposition's demands, including setting snap elections, by the next scheduled rally on 1 August, the HAK would return to the rhetoric of calling for Sargsian's immediate resignation.

The HAK strongly encouraged merchants and others disillusioned with the government's policies to join them, and Ter-Petrosyan has aligned his party's goals with those of the street vendors who began the initial protests.

Heritage, one of only two opposition parties with seats in the National Assembly, has also been active in galvanizing protest, though its demonstrations have been on a smaller scale and have largely come in the form of civil disobedience actions, such as hunger strikes and sit-ins,[30] and public conferences.

[40] On 26 April, leader Raffi Hovannisian released a statement demanding that the government convene a constitutional convention, grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over Armenia, and officially recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

[56] Both HHD and Heritage have adopted a hard line on Nagorno-Karabakh, jointly insisting in late June that the government not accept the terms laid out at a meeting in Kazan, Russia, and warning of massive street protests if Sargsian compromised on the breakaway republic's status.

Complaints over high cost of living and inflation have reportedly driven historically apolitical but Internet-savvy young Armenians to organize online, and some have used sites like Facebook, Revoforum, and Twitter to get involved with street protests as well.

He also said President Sargsyan is not a dictator and is "not Gaddafi", a reference to Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, who has faced a sustained uprising against his rule since February.

[34] On 31 March, in response to ongoing discontent from vendors petitioning for the re-legalization of street trading, the deputy mayor of Yerevan said of the crackdown, "These actions aimed at enforcing the law are resolute and final."

He complained of a lack of civility in Armenian politics and said that just because Ter-Petrosyan and his backers did not congratulate him on his victory or formally concede the election, that did not mean the results were illegitimate.

[27] The Sargsyan administration vowed on 20 April to give greater priority to investigating allegations of violence against opposition supporters on 1 March 2008, a key demand of the protesters.

[65] Deputy Speaker Samvel Nikoyan, a parliamentary ally of Sargsyan, said he believed the concessions would prompt Ter-Petrosyan and other major critics in the opposition to consider that "language of ultimatum is not expedient while addressing the authorities".

[66] A HAK official agreed that one of the opposition's demands had been met, but said two other demands—presumably the release of political prisoners and access to Freedom Square, which Ter-Petrosyan also mentioned on 8 April—are outstanding and suggested he would not be fully satisfied by the promise of renewed investigation into the 1 March 2008 violence until the results were made public.

[69] On 26 May, the National Assembly passed a wide-reaching amnesty plan for hundreds of prisoners, including six opposition activists detained since 2008, thus fulfilling the HAK's third and final precondition for dialogue with the government.

[70] The government offered another major concession on 9 July, with a spokesman for Sargsian saying the HHK and its two junior coalition partners, Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Rule of Law (OEK), had agreed to form an ad hoc group to hold negotiations with the HAK.

Several senior party officials and lawmakers were appointed to this group, which is intended to meet with a similar HAK delegation to discuss a solution to the standoff over Armenia's governance.

[71] In December, Caucasus Institute director Alexander Iskandaryan named the dialogue between the opposition and the government prompted by the protests as one of the most significant developments of 2011, saying it "altered the political reality in Armenia".