Protests in Armenia become political

The movement against the rise of electricity tariff in Armenia is not a social, but a political phenomenon, believe the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". They are sure that any attempts to disperse the protesters will be used against the authorities themselves.

Starting from June 19, Armenia holds mass protests against the decision to increase the electricity tariff. The largest action takes place in Bagramyan Avenue in Yerevan. After the police demanded to abandon the avenue, supporters of the initiative group "No to robbery!" did it, but some people stayed their, forming a new group of the protest movement.

According to Sergey Minasyan, a deputy director of the Caucasus Institute, the disagreements on the further strategy among various branches of the movement suggest that the activeness is declining. The split in the movement, according to Minasyan, was inevitable. Some activists had expected that the protest would be limited to the issue of electricity tariff, while others began actively politicizing the process, he said, adding that one of the forces trying to redirect the action into its favourable direction was the "Constituent Parliament".

Armen Badalyan, a political technologist, believes that the action will not reach the scale that may result in real political changes. Now, the Armenian society is split, he said.

Ruben Megrabyan, a political scientist and an employee of the Centre for Political and International Studies, has expressed an opinion that the action against the increase of the electricity tariff has shown the authorities' non-readiness to take real decisions. At the same time, according to his version, the Armenian society demonstrates the ability to self-organize and stand up for its interests, as well as to use the reaction of the international community to its advantage.

Thus, the statements of the Embassies of Great Britain and the USA in Armenia with calls to peaceful resolution of the conflict played for the benefit of activists, when the police threatened to disperse the rally.

Today, the members of the initiative "No to robbery!" made statements, in which they treated the authorities' responses to their demands unsatisfied and refuted the information about the split in the protest movement.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.