THOUSANDS RALLY IN FRESH PROTEST AGAINST ARMENIAN POLL

AFP
Friday February 22, 2008

Around 15,000 opposition activists rallied in the centre of the
Armenian capital Yerevan on Friday on a third day of protests against
alleged voting fraud in the ex-Soviet state’s presidential poll.

Opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian was due to address the
unauthorised rally, the latest in a series protesting Prime Minister
Serzh Sarkisian’s win in Tuesday’s ballot that began on Wednesday.

Protesters chanted "Levon for President" and waved flags and photos
of Ter-Petrosian as they prepared to march across the city.

At least 25,000 people rallied on Thursday and the opposition upped
the stakes by setting up a camp of around a dozen tents in Yerevan’s
Freedom Square without the required authorisation.

Protesters spent the night huddled around campfires and wrapped in
blankets against the bitter cold. They said they would protest until
Ter-Petrosian is recognised as the true winner of the election.

"We’ll sweep away the powers-that-be. We will fight to the end,"
53-year-old Razmik Safarian, one of the activists, told AFP.

Mkhitar Aslanian, 23, said: "This is only the beginning. We’re planning
a long struggle… In the end, we have to win."

During the night, volunteers handed out hot tea and pies as protesters
watched replays of past rallies and Ter-Petrosian speeches projected
on to a large screen set up in the square.

Ter-Petrosian was the country’s president between 1991 and 1998. After
leaving the presidency, he retired from politics and only returned last
year, building up a powerful campaign against government corruption.

Official results from the election gave 52.9 percent of the vote to
Sarkisian, the choice of outgoing President Robert Kocharian, who is
obliged to step down after his second term.

Ter-Petrosian, who trailed with 21.5 percent, has described the
election as "shameful," alleging that dozens of his activists were
beaten and that ballot stuffing, multiple voting and voter intimidation
were widespread.

Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe described the election as "mostly" in line with international
standards.

Kocharian hand-picked the prime minister to succeed him after
Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia swept parliamentary polls
last May.

Together, the prime minister and president have been credited with
ensuring relative stability and strong growth. But critics accuse
the government of tolerating widespread corruption and cracking down
on opponents.

Analysts predict Sarkisian will follow Kocharian’s policies,
pursuing close ties with Moscow and a hawkish stance in relations
with neighbouring Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The latter two have cut diplomatic ties and sealed their borders
with Armenia over its support for Armenian separatists in the rebel
Azerbaijani region of Nagorny Karabakh.

Ankara has also been angered by Yerevan’s campaign to have the World
War I-era mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire recognised
as genocide.

Ter-Petrosian has called for a more conciliatory approach with
Azerbaijan and Turkey.