Armenia set to declare emergency
Aljazeera.net, Qatar
March 1 2008
Armenia has warned it will declare a state of emergency if protests
against last month’s presidential poll continue.
More than 30 people were injured on Saturday after riot police clashed
in Yerevan, the capital, with about hundreds of demonstrators who
had been protesting that the electon was rigged.
The violence broke out after police began forcing protesters onto
buses.
Vardan Oskanian, Armenian foreign minister, said: "All orders are ready
for the president to declare a state of emergency if the situation
continues to worsen."
The protesters had defied a police crackdown just hours after the
police dispersed another rally and put Levon Ter-Petrosian, the
opposition chief, under house arrest.
The protesters, mostly supporters of Petrosian, have called for a
new vote, alleging Serzh Sarkisian, the current president and former
prime minister, had rigged the election.
For the past 10 days opposition supporters have camped in Yerevan’s
Freedom Square in protest against the poll.
House arrest
Arman Musinian, a spokesman for Ter-Petrosian’s party, said that
among those arrested was former prime minister Hrant Bagratian.
Ter-Petrosian, the opposition leader and the defeated presidential
candidate, said he had been placed under house arrest following
the crackdown.
Petrosian said: "I am confined to my residence. Permission or no
permission, we will press ahead with protests, because rallies and
marches can only be banned when there is a state of emergency."
Earlier Pertosian told reporters: "I am deeply convinced that even
if Sarkisan stays on, he won’t be a legitimate president. I have no
doubt the people won’t tolerate this."
Petrosian had contested the presidential polls with a mandate against
corruption and has since alleged massive fraud in the elections that
replaced Robert Kocharian, the former Armenian president.
The opposition has long accused Sarkisian of having used state
resources to promote his candidacy, with the support of Kocharian.
‘Power grab’
Observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) have said that the election had mostly met international
standards.
Ilkka Kanerva, the current chairman of OSCE and the Finnish
foreign minister, has condemned the use of force against peaceful
demonstrators.
Kanerva said: "I urge the authorities to use maximum restraint. I
am troubled that there are reports of casualties and I urge the
authorities to release those detained.
"I again call on the government and the opposition to engage in
a dialogue."
Kocharian, the former president has described the protests as an
attempt to grab power illegally and promised that the government’s
response would be "decisive and firm".