A rally against the increase in electricity tariffs is continuing in Armenia. The Public Service Regulatory Commission of Armenia made a decision to increase the daytime and nighttime tariffs for light by 6.93 drams per 1 kW/h starting from August - from 41.85 drams and 31.85 drams to 48.78 drams 38.78 drams respectively. Armenian students were the first to protest against this decision on June 17.
Major events started on June 19, when the 'No to robbery!' movement initiated a sit-in protest until the evening of June 22. Similar actions were held in Gyumri and Vanadzor. On June 23, Armenian police broke up a rally which was heading towards the president's residence, situated on Yerevan's Baghramyan Avenue. At the same time, 237 people were arrested, 18 were injured. However, several hundred people rallied at Freedom Square in Yerevan in the evening, saying that "they are not broken by the crackdown" and "they do not intend to back down from their demands."
An MP of the 'Armenian National Congress', Aram Manukyan, expressed hope that these are really serious events for Armenia. "Quite large numbers of young people gathered to protest in Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor, all the people agree with them, for all of us the current increase in tariffs is a big problem, and everyone wants to solve this problem. I emphasize that we are talking about the public, not a political action," he pointed out.
According to him, opposition politicians support this movement. "I can say from our side, that the ANC is pleased to help the protesters. I took the initiative yesterday to help in police stations for the release of the young people," Aram Manukyan said.
Manukyan does not expect that the Armenian government will make concessions. "So far they have not agreed to the demands of the protesters and they are unlikely to agree," he said, also stressing that the current developments in Armenia are not similar to Ukraine's Euromaidan.
"I beg you not to make such parallels, because these are events of a purely social nature, they are not directed against the East, nor against the West," Aram Manukyan stressed.
The director of the Caucasus Institute, Alexander Iskandaryan, in his turn, said the tariff rallies are another manifestation of traditional political culture in Armenia. "There is an expression of demands of a socio-political nature on the part of the demonstrators. There are attempts at negotiations, but they are unsuccessful," he said.
The political scientist drew attention to the impact of some of the protests. "We can't cancel the current tariffs, but it is possible, obviously, to create some subsidy scheme for the prices to remain the same for the ordinary consumer. We should create a fund to achieve such a compromise," he suggested.
"Rallies can last for a long time. There were cases when protesters have remained on the streets for weeks in the modern history of Armenia. A harsh response from the authorities is possible, as it was last night, but there can be concessions. If it will be possible to organize a negotiating process between the government and the protesters, then the solution to the question will be dragged out," the expert concluded.
