Protesters and Police Clash as Armenia Unrest Grows

Joseph Borawski, Saturday March 1st, 2008, 8:01 PM, Global Social Protests Current Event

This week in Armenia, protesters and police clashed after several days of tension following with the presidential election of February 19^th, the fifth election the small country has had since it broke from the Soviet Union in 1991. Reportedly the demonstrations had been conducted relatively peaceably with only the expected marching and slogan shouting until Saturday when Armenian authorities decided to attempt to break up the demonstrations using some tactics which were rather heavy handed. Such as firing tear gas canisters, and bullets into the air. The protests were aggravated and in some areas drunken rioting and looting began in the capital, breaking storefront windows.

The election set the stage for the current prime minister, Serge Sargsyan against the country’s first elected president Levon Ter-Petrossian. Mr. Ter-Petrossian put up an opposition with an aggressive campaign, the rest of the election conformed completely to old Soviet standards. Meaning heavy handed tactics, the buying of votes, horribly skewed television coverage and suspicious tally counting. Despite protests with the inclusion of Mr. Ter-Petrossian, people are still wary of his promises for change, as he himself used similar tactics in his first term of office.

I find it interesting that we’re seeing a recent trend of protests in countries through out the world where elections have been felt to be rigged or suspiciously close. First in Kenya and now in Armenia. Though lets hope that the protests and violence will not be as bad in Armenia, with only 31 injured and no reported deaths, it is certainly a story to keep a close eye on. Check it out here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/world/europe/02armenia.html?ref=europe