PROTESTS IN ARMENIA PAINT A SURREAL SCENE
By Frale Oyen
Pacific Daily News
AID=/20080304/OPINION02/803040304/1014/OPINION
Mar ch 3 2008
GU
Riot police and the military continue to patrol the streets of central
Yerevan, rounding up demonstrators who, for the past nine days, have
been protesting the results of the country’s presidential elections
held on Feb. 19.
For the past two days, the area in front of our apartment has been
surrounded by the police and the military. Now, the entire downtown
area has been locked down.
Since the current Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan was declared the
Republic of Armenia’s next president, we’ve been waiting for something
to happen. The situation has been tense, especially as Sargsyan,
supported by Russia and the hand-picked successor to outgoing President
Robert Kocharyan, purportedly is not very popular with the masses.
Still, according to the Central Election Commission, Sargsyan garnered
nearly 53 percent of the votes, light years away from his nearest
rivals Artur Baghdasaryan, the former Speaker of Parliament and head
of the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Party, who came in second,
and Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first president of Armenia (1991-1997),
who placed third. Sargsyan only needed 50 percent plus one to avoid
a run off against the second place finisher.
However, the Opposition, led by Ter-Petrosyan, insists that the
elections were rigged and that he was the rightful victor.
Although a number of election violations, ranging from vote buying
to harassment, intimidation and (some) beatings of poll workers
and observers, were reported, observers from the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe maintained that, although there
were "irregularities," the Feb. 19 election broadly met Armenia’s
commitments to democracy.
The Opposition refuses to accept the results and, since Feb. 20,
several hundred of its supporters have been camping out and holding
daily rallies in Liberty Square at the Opera House, located across
the street from our apartment.
However, bear in mind, that this is Armenia where it is difficult to
differentiate fact from fiction. There is little to no independent
press and rumor mongering is the national pastime.
The Opposition has been allowed to express its views but the situation
has been tense – peaceful but tense. For the past nine days, police,
protestors and bystanders have been civil with one another, chatting
and sharing cigarettes and the ubiquitous sunflower seeds.
Until this morning.
At 7 a.m., Fredrik and I were yanked from a sound sleep. At first,
we thought that, as in the past two days, the demonstrators had
again taken to the streets. But then we realized that the sounds of
yelling and dull thuds had replaced chants of "Levon! Levon!" and
"Down with Serzh!"
Bleary-eyed, we ran to the balcony, which looks out onto the Northern
Avenue, a pedestrianized area that links Opera Square and Republic
Square in central Yerevan, to see what was going on.
The scene unfolding below was surreal. Protestors were being chased
down the Northern Avenue by riot police and military officials
wielding batons and huge sticks. Some tried to stand their ground,
returning time and time again, defiantly yelling and shaking their
fists at the authorities before taking to their heels. The resulting
ruckus woke local residents, who, like us, watched the disbursement
of the demonstrators from their respective balconies. Even the stray
dogs joined the fray, romping amid the fleeing protestors.
The situation still remains tense. Demonstrators and riot police
have clashed outside the French and Italian Embassies in downtown
Yerevan, and the Opposition has called for additional rallies to be
held later today, despite reports that their leader Ter-Petrosyan has
been placed under house arrest. The U.S. Embassy has urged American
citizens living outside the capital to stay away and those living in
the capital to remain at home.
Should be interesting to see how this story ends. One hopes it won’t
be another bleak chapter in Armenia’s history.
Frale Oyen and her husband, Fredrik, who works for HSBC Bank, currently
live in Yerevan, Armenia. She worked for the Pacific Daily News from
1989 to 1995.