Baghramyan Avenue Standoff: Protesters reiterate their demand
People staging a protest on Baghramyan Avenue have only one demand. They want Serzh Sargsyan to order to revoke two decisions of the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) on raising electricity tariffs in Armenia. Activists have given the government until Wednesday afternoon to respond to their demand. Lawmakers and intellectuals who came to the square at night to form a human wall between the protesters and police in order to prevent further clashes between them are still there. Groups of people are standing randomly and talking. Many have gathered near the rubbish bins which they earlier placed on the avenue between demonstrators and the police chain to defend themselves from police officers. As soon as dawn broke, protesters began to clean the area where they were holding a sit-in. The protest was triggered by the PSRC decision to raise electricity tariffs in Armenia by 7 drams (about 1.5 cents) from August 1. Earlier this month, the state regulator partially granted the request by the Russian-owned Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) that had asked the tariffs to be raised by 17 drams (over 40 percent).
