ARMENIA PRESIDENT-ELECT EYES COMPROMISE AS PROTESTS GROW
by Mariam Harutunian

Agence France Presse — English
February 26, 2008 Tuesday 4:37 PM GMT

Armenia’s president-elect Serzh Sarkisian invited defeated rivals on
Tuesday to help form a coalition government as the capital Yerevan
saw the largest opposition rally since last week’s election.

"We appeal to all former presidential candidates and all political
forces supporting them: let us cooperate right up to the formation
of a coalition government," Sarkisian told thousands of supporters
in the capital’s Republic Square.

"I call on everyone, irrespective of their political opinion, to
overcome this artificial split in society."

On the nearby Freedom Square, tens of thousands of supporters of
defeated rival Levon Ter-Petrosian held a seventh day of protests to
overturn what they say was a rigged election on February 19.

The protest was by far the largest since the election, an AFP reporter
said. Neither organizers nor the police were available to provide
accurate estimates of the crowd.

Several thousand marched from the square to rally outside the
government’s offices.

Official results from the election gave victory to Sarkisian, the prime
minister, with 53 percent of the vote. Former president Ter-Petrosian
came second with 21.5 percent.

Ter-Petrosian has alleged that dozens of his activists were beaten
and that ballot stuffing, multiple voting and voter intimidation were
widespread on election day.

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

On Tuesday the chairman of the OSCE held talks with the authorities
in Yerevan in a bid to calm the tensions.

"My main message is for Armenia to find a way out through political
dialogue," said Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva, who currently
chairs the body. All sides should "act in a constructive manner and
respect all legal procedures," he said.

While Sarkisian on Tuesday described the rival protesters as "brothers
and sisters," he suggested there was a limit to the authorities’
patience for the protests.

"I will protect the right to hold demonstrations, but this does not
mean that life in the capital should be paralyzed," he said. "We will
be decisive so that life in the capital becomes normal."

On Saturday outgoing President Robert Kocharian, a close ally of
Sarkisian, described the protests as an attempt at an illegal power
grab and promised the government’s response would be "decisive."

In a television address on Tuesday, Kocharian said it was time
everyone "sobered up and understood that you can not get to power by
rough means."

Several opposition activists have been detained since Saturday
for allegedly possessing illegal weapons. On Monday police ordered
the closing of some of Ter-Petrosian’s offices, according to his
campaign staff.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress