While the current protests in Yerevan are dubbed “Electric”, they are more like a “silent revolution”. Demonstrators in Baghramyan Avenue are not setting any political demands, besides the “social demand” of revoking the decision on the electricity price hike, they are silent, they spend the day singing and dancing and gather in the evenings for rallies.
However, the political leaderships of Armenia and Russia are forced to take urgent steps.
In response to the protest blockading Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan, a meeting of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission was urgently held in the Armenian capital. Then, President Serzh Sargsyan said that Russia decided to issue a loan of $200 million for the purchase of modern weapons for the army and transfer the investigation of the murders of the Avetisyan family in Gyumri, blamed on a Russian soldier, to the Armenian side. Also Russian assistance with the extension of the life of the Armenian nuclear power plant was announced and the sides agreed on commissioning an audit of the Armenian power grids owned by the Russian company Inter RAO UES.
The Armenian government, in its turn, decided to take upon itself the subsidization of the increased part of the electricity tariff, paying it from the state budget.
However, the fact that thousands of protesters remained in Baghramyan Avenue means that these decisions do not satisfy the requirements of the people. And although no one in the avenue presented new demands, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan overnight made what looked like a panic statement, claiming that the demonstrators have passed from social to “obscure political demands.”
In the protest venue some individual participants put forward various demands, up to the nationalization of Armenia’s strategic assets that were transferred to Russia and the resignation of the government. However, these demands are made privately, and no one formulates them officially.
The police force that yesterday promised to clear the demonstration did not launch any operation eventually. According to political analyst Andrias Ghukasyan, they were stopped by the large number of people who gathered in the area. According to various estimates, they were up to 10,000. However, as experts say, the police realize that breaking up the rally could lead to the downfall of today’s government in Armenia, where a movement of civil disobedience is gaining momentum.
The government is trying to “buy some time” in order to try, perhaps, to resell the Armenian power grid. According to Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, Inter RAO UES is in talks with the owner of Tashir Group Samvel Karapetyan and another Russian businessman of Armenian origin.
Minister-chief of government staff David Harutyunyan yesterday said that resale and nationalization of the company cannot be excluded, but first an international audit needs to be conducted.
The minister said that within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union that can find solutions in the energy sector. But first of all improvement of the system is needed.
In fact, to the silent rally in Yerevan political response is heard at the highest level. And the power of the people who gathered in Baghramyan Avenue is felt strongly in government offices.