Armenia protesters pile pressure on PM

YEREVAN: Thousands of people rallied in Armenia’s capital yesterday to protest the election of former president Serzh Sarkisian as prime minister, viewed by the opposition as a power grab. Shouting “Armenia without Serzh”, protesters marched through central Yerevan and staged rallies across the city in opposition to the Kremlin-backed Sarkisian who was on Tuesday elected to the post of prime minister after a decade serving as president.

During a rally outside Yerevan State University opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan called on students to join the protests in the impoverished ex-Soviet nation. “You are young people, you are not prisoners, go out and join us!” he said, calling for a new major rally yesterday evening. Earlier in the day protesters sought to block one of Yerevan’s major thoroughfares and briefly massed outside Sarkisian’s residence. “People are so angry, they can no longer stand Sarkisian’s rule,” a 26-year-old protester who only released his first name, Atom said.

“The youth must stand up against Sarkisian’s regime.” Authorities said that more than 70 demonstrators were detained and urged the protesters to disperse. “We call on protest organizers to stop illegal actions,” the interior ministry said in a statement. Protesters have held rallies over recent days to denounce a change in the political system that they say is a bid to ensure Sarkisian, 63, can remain in power under a new parliamentary system of government. Constitutional amendments approved in 2015 has transferred governing powers from the presidency to the premier.