Agence France Presse — English
February 21, 2008 Thursday 12:43 PM GMT
25,000 protest Armenia presidential poll
YEREVAN, Feb 21 2008
About 25,000 people demonstrated in Armenia’s capital on Thursday as
the opposition vowed non-stop protests against election results that
gave Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian the presidency.
Supporters of rival candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian thronged into the
central Freedom Square waving Armenian flags and chanting "Victory,
Victory!" "Fight to the End!" and "Levon! Levon! Levon!" — a
reference to rival candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian.
"Starting from this moment our protests will not end," Ter-Petrosian
ally Nikol Pashenian told the crowd. "Freedom Square will be the
centre of our protests until the authorities leave."
Although the atmosphere remained calm, with a minimal police
presence, the opposition hinted they were ready to use more
aggressive methods.
"Our actions will be peaceful as long as all legal methods have not
been exhausted," Pashenian told the crowd. "Be prepared for all
scenarios."
In a statement released late Wednesday Ter-Petrosian’s campaign
refused to recognize the result of Tuesday’s vote and demanded a new
election.
Official results gave Sarkisian 52.9 percent of the vote, securing
him an outright first-round win over Ter-Petrosian, who secured 21.5
percent.
Ter-Petrosian has described the conduct of the election as
"shameful," alleging that Sarkisian’s camp used state resources to
promote him and that there were violations in the count.
Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe described the election as "mostly" in line with international
standards. The US State Department said it was "concerned" at reports
of problems in the count.