Robert Kocharian was sworn in for a second five-year presidential term at a ceremony on 9 April, RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service reported. The presidential oath obliges the incumbent to abide by the country\'s constitution, respect human rights and freedoms, and guarantee the country\'s freedom and territorial integrity. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the ceremony, as did former President Levon Ter-Petrossian and defeated presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian. Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian expressed regret at the opposition deputies\' failure to attend the ceremony, commenting that their presence would have helped to demonstrate to the world that \"we are a civilized and democratic country,\" Noyan Tapan reported. In his benediction, Catholicos Garegin II noted that Armenia survived \"difficult days\" during the election and said, \"We still have a path to travel before we achieve full-fledged democracy.\" Meanwhile, police armed with truncheons, interior ministry troops and regular army troops armed with machine guns clashed on 9 April with thousands of protesters who tried to march on the government building where the inauguration ceremony took place, RFE/RL\'s Yerevan bureau reported. Several demonstrators were injured, including Albert Bazeyan, one of the leaders of the opposition Hanrapetutiun party, and an unspecified number arrested. After 40 minutes, opposition leaders called on the demonstrators to disperse. (RFE/RL)