Armenia Descends Into General Strike - Pashinyan and Supporters Blockade Roads in Yerevan
Armenia's residents spent May 2nd under a transportation blockade. Called upon by the opposition's deputy, Nikol Pashinyan his supporters have put up barricades on the main highways, including international ones, which has almost completely paralyzed vehicular and railroad traffic. Stores, markets, and schools in Yerevan have closed. Pashinyan only allowed the blockade to be lifted two hours ago to allow protesters to come to the rally.
Aleksandr Balitsky reports with the details.
- Do you want to go ahead?
- Yes.
- Do they let people go?
- I still don't know, I need to go to the hospital.
There's no point in arguing, they won't let you through, even if it's an emergency. At 8.15 PM, upon the opposition's orders, Yerevan's roads are now under the protesters' control. They block off streets and alleyways, and take garbage containers out onto the streets. They only make an exception for ambulances. Subway trains aren't allowed to depart, either. An hour later, the doors to the subway entrance are locked by the employees themselves. Tourists with luggage make their way through the marching columns of demonstrators.
- I am from airport.
- How did you get there?
- We walked there for 12 miles.
- You walked for 12 miles on foot?
- It's okay. Not only Yerevan roads are blocked. The only road that leads to the international airport is blocked. Protesters have taken over all of the intersections. People who are late for their flights have to walk.
"They let us through at first, but then changed their minds. Then we got picked up by the airport shuttle. He said he'd drive us for free for a mile until the next roadblock. We got out there, and we've been walking since, for about a mile now".
Most of the morning flights to Russia on the display board left half-empty. People who spent their May vacation here didn't make the check-in, losing their fares.
- Were there a lot of people who missed their flights in the morning?
- Yes, there were.
- We hailed a cab with a local driver, he got us out the downtown via back roads. They took us around the roadblocks.
- Were there a lot of them?
- No.
- We had four transfers.
- We begged them in tears to let us through.
Even border checkpoints have bad traffic. Trucks with food supplies are being turned around. The authorities are worried about provisions.
Vendors at the central market are packing up, the merchandise won't be delivered anyway.
"The roads are closed, we can't get there by car".
The general strike, called for after the opposition's candidate failed to be selected as prime minister, took over many towns and villages.
The Catholicos of All Armenians, Garegin II urged everyone to act rationally.
"The situation in the country remains tense and disturbing. We urge the authorities and the opposition to act within the legal framework".
President Sarkissian and Prime Minister Karapetyan both talked about a civilized resolution. All political forces must demonstrate flexibility. But, the government's leader can only be selected by the Parliament. This is what the Constitution says. The ruling party has agreed to an early election from the beginning. They continue to insist on negotiating. They're even ready to vote on May 8th for a candidate that only has one-third of all deputies' votes.
Armen Ashotyan, Vice President of the RPA: "We have to find a way out of this crisis. There are many exits out of this, but only one door — the National Assembly. The candidates must express their positions to the deputies from the podium of the National Assembly".
To become the Prime Minister, one must get the majority of deputies' votes, which is at least 53 out of 105 possible votes. According to the results of the last Parliamentary election, which was found to be legitimate and transparent, the ruling Republican Party has 58 votes, Prosperous Armenia has 21 votes, Dashnaktsutyun has 7 votes, and the Yelk opposition has 9 votes. The last three parties supported the protests' leader but not unanimously. This is why the opposition is organizing street protests.
At 5:00 PM, the protesters received new orders to unblock the streets before morning. The traffic is still jammed. The cars which just stood there are now stuck in traffic.
Aleksandr Balitsky, Sergey Eliseev, Sergey Zavidov, Anatoly Nefedov. Vesti from Yerevan, Armenia.