Revolution in Armenia: Street Protests Give Way to Elections for New Prime Minister Position
This Thursday is a big day in Armenia Parliament will elect a new prime minister of the republic basically the leader of the country. The outcome of the vote will show whether the Armenian internal political crisis which has been raging for three weeks can finally be over.
Alexander Balitsky on what's happening there now, what the streets demand and what the government's ready to give them.
After a two-day break, when protesters moved from the center of Yerevan, to Gyumri and Vanadzor they are returning to Republic Square. There won't be any political slogans until protest leaders come to the stage. Without them, the rally seems more like a bright carnival.
A week ago it seemed that the main demand of the protesters had been fulfilled. Serzh Sargsyan, who had been leading the country for 10 years and then became its prime minister despite his promise not to take a leadership position has finally resigned. A one-day respite: the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is not the right time for political disputes — the date is sacred for Armenians.
The next day, the streets were buzzing again. The protest is led by Nikol Pashinyan who's recently grown a beard and changed his suit for a baseball cap and a camouflage T-shirt.
Nikol Pashinyan: "We'll walk the streets and inspect the city".
The former journalist and now leader of the opposition party is known for participating in the protests that occurred ten years ago. Those protests transformed into riots. Ten people died, hundreds were injured, and Pashinyan was sentenced to seven years in prison although was pardoned later. His new protest is peaceful. We want to live like normal people.
"We want a bright prosperous future for our kids. We want them to stay in Armenia".
"We want to live peacefully like Russians do".
The police try to regulate the traffic, calling for order but ultimately fail because the protesters are so euphoric.
- Are you allowed to break rules today?
- We're not breaking anything. We're celebrating.
Cars with flags chaotically drift around. Even the protesters are asking them to slow down and stop blocking the roads. I want everything to go just the way it goes on the TV. The protest is peaceful, but the demands of the opposition are getting tougher: the resignation of the government and the ban of the Republican Party to participate in politics. Instead of acting prime minister Karen Karapetyan, Pashinyan demands appointing a "people's candidate" as the new prime minister, which means himself.
Nikol Pashinyan, protesters' leader: "We have the main mandate — the mandate of the people of Armenia. The parliament must bear in mind the will of the people".
The winners of the recent elections didn't appreciate his approach.
Karen Karapetyan, acting prime minister: "I know no other country where the head of the state is chosen by an angry mob. We have elections. Why doesn't the "people's candidate" stand for election? We agree to hold early elections. I exclude the option of a random rioter becoming the head of our state. We have our Constitution and no right to go beyond it".
The Armenian President told us in an interview how important it is to stick to the rules.
Armen Sarkisyan, president of Armenia: "They should take their problems, our problems, and the problems they discuss in the streets to the parliament. And the parliament must decide who becomes the next prime minister of Armenia. On May 1st, our dialogue will lead us to a constitutional solution".
After the constitutional reform, only the prime minister wields real power in Armenia. The prime minister is elected by members of the National Parliament. Nikol Pashiyan's party, Yelk, which means "a way out" has only nine seats in parliament. Here they are. The total number of MP's in the Armenian parliament is 105. These seats belong to Tsarukyan and Prosperous Armenia. The next two large rows are fully occupied by the members of the ruling Republican Party. It's clear that in this circumstance, there's no way the opposition can win constitutionally.
The opposition is holding backstage negotiations about possible support from other factions. But they still have more trust in the streets — their main political leverage. The situation is different, once you move away from the capital. There are no rallies or protests in the Parakar village. The peasants are too busy in the fields.
Aram Artenyan: "In twenty days, we'll have apricots. We'll gather them and send them to Moscow. Yeah, to Russia".
It's hard to cultivate the not-so-fertile land surrounded by mountains. A farm doesn't always feed a family.
Ashot Teroyan: "70 people used to work here on 120 acres. Now, everyone's working abroad. Where? Well, 80% of them went to Russia".
The owner of a cafe in the center of Yerevan says that nowadays, taxes eat up all of the profit of his small business. that's why he went to the rally. However, the protests scared off tourists. This May, his revenue will shrink.
Aram Gevorgyan, cafe owner: "There are fewer tourists, fewer people in general because people are afraid to take their children out onto the street and my customers usually come here with children".
Armenia used to be one of the electronics centers of the USSR. Now, it's trying to conquer foreign markets. Smartphones and tablets are being developed here. Unfortunately, there are only several high-tech facilities here. Almost all factories in the town of Echmiadzin are closed.
Rudik Petrosyan: Almost 1,500 people used to work at the Electron factory.
- Were there other factories here?
- There used to be a plastics factory and a helicopter factory. A car factory.
- Are they still working?
- When? they've been gone for 27 years now.
It's one of the reasons why many locals will go to the rally in Yerevan this evening. But even on the eve of big changes, they still see Russia as their ally.
"Russia's our only friend. Nobody helps us but Russia".
The residence of the Armenian Catholicos is located two blocks from the former Electron. Since the first day of the protests, the church encouraged everyone to unite. The Echmiadzin Cathedral, built in the early 4th century is one of the oldest Christian churches. It's been rebuilt multiple times throughout the years. It's covered in scaffolding but still remains the spiritual center of Armenia. Parishioners pray for peace and wisdom as taught by the ancient Armenian books.
Aida Charakhchyan, museum keeper: "The coup has been calm and quiet, very good. Now, they'll elect a new leader. But everything's going to be fine. At least, we hope so".
People come from all over the world to this jazz club to listen to the legendary Levon Malkhasyan. There's never a free table. The founding father of Armenian jazz never speaks about politics. His only comment: "Politics is like music. You must be able to hear and listen".
And there aren't any free spots at Republic Square. The opposition has promised to continue the protests until the new prime minister is elected. The Republican Party has already decided not to nominate its candidate to avoid escalating the conflict.
Alexander Balitsky, Sergey Alexeyev, Sergey Zavidov and Alexandra Beryozkina Vesti: News of the Week, Armenia.