Protests in Armenia doomed to failure because of absence of clear goal

Yerevan activists report that the civil initiative "No to robbery!" and the movement "Arise, Armenia!" have decided to hold joint protest actions.

The actions held on September 1 in Bagramyan Avenue and Republic Square were also coordinated by the two groups, Andreas Gukasyan, a member of the movement "Arise, Armenia!", said at a press conference on September 2.

"We acted together; and we were able to develop a fighting mechanism, which can attract broad masses," said Gukasyan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 1, in Yerevan, the protest actions against the increase in electricity tariff were held by members of the initiative group "No robbery!" and the movement "Arise, Armenia!" Both protest actions resulted in detentions of activists. After the release of their activists from the police station, participants of the first protest action marched through the centre of the Armenian capital, demanding to release detained activists of the movement "Arise, Armenia!" While the demonstrators reached Republic Square, the police released all the detainees.

Meanwhile, Armenian experts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", believe that these actions will have small audiences and bring no success, until and unless activists formulate their clear goal.

In the opinion of Grant Mikaelyan, a political scientist and a researcher at the Institute of the Caucasus, the radical nature of activists' demands shows the absence at their disposal of any other instruments to influence the authorities' policy; while the poor attendance of the action is another proof.

"However, the main reason is the absence of clear protest leaders, ideas and programmes," said Mikaelyan.

Karen Kocharyan, a political technologist, believes that it is possible to achieve significant goals by actions of civil disobedience; and experience shows that they have already achieved something.

However, in his opinion, given that today's activists have no real leader and a serious organization form; the protests are taking a spontaneous format.

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