Riot police arrest dozens in Armenia anti-PM protests
YEREVAN: Anti-government protests in the Armenian capital Yerevan against ex-president Serzh Sarkisian’s election as prime minister entered their seventh day on Thursday, with police detaining dozens of demonstrators.
Led by opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan, protesters staged a rally outside government headquarters in the evening as Sarkisian chaired his first cabinet meeting since parliament elected him as PM on Tuesday.
Banging drums and blowing vuvuzelas, they surrounded the building which was cordoned off by hundreds of masked riot police.
“Serzh Sarkisian... we came here to tell you that the people hate you!” Pashinyan shouted into a megaphone, adding that “tens of thousands” had turned out.
“Serzh Sarkisian must step down, Armenia’s national interests require it,” he told the cheering crowd.
Earlier, several hundred demonstrators attempted to blockade the entrance to the government building before riot police intervened, arresting dozens and taking them to a local police station.
A small protest rally was also held in Armenia’s third largest city, Gyumri, where demonstrators briefly clashed with police.
Protesters have held rallies over recent days in Yerevan to denounce Sarkisian’s efforts to remain in power as prime minister under a new parliamentary system of government.
Controversial constitutional amendments approved in 2015 have transferred governing powers from the presidency to the premier.
“Armenians are ready to fight for their future, we will not stop, our victory is imminent,” 26-yearold protester Misak Mesropyan told AFP at the rally.
Another protester, pensioner Ruben, said: “Protests must continue if we want Serzh (Sarkisian) to finally step down.”
The influential head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II, expressed concern over the political turmoil.
“Inciting hatred and enmity as well as any form of violence are unacceptable,” he said in a statement.
New President Armen Sarkisian, who is not related to his predecessor, said in a statement he invited “all parties to start dialogue to find the best way out of the situation”.
Armenia-politics- government protest.—AF P