As anticipated on 7 September the leaders of the People's Party of Armenia, Hanrapetutiun, and the National Accord Front issued a joint statement calling for the impeachment of President Robert Kocharian, whom they accuse of violating the Armenian Constitution, condoning terrorism, and precipitating the country into a deep political, moral, psychological, and socioeconomic crisis, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureaureported. The statement also repeated earlier allegations that Kocharian sought to sabotage the investigation into the October 1999 parliament shootings in order to prevent the identity of the organizers from becoming known. The joint statement was read by Artashes Geghamian, a leading member of the AHCh, at Hanrapetutiun's first congress in Yerevan at which one of the party's leaders, former Yerevan Mayor Albert Bazeyan, declared that "the removal of the Kocharian regime and the formation of a legitimate government is the main precondition for the development of our country." Bazeyan stressed, however, that Kocharian's ouster must be accomplished "by constitutional means." (RFE/RL)