Thousands rally in fresh Armenian election protest
Tens of thousands of opposition supporters demonstrated in Armenia's capital Yerevan for a third day yesterday vowing to keep protesting until the results of a presidential election are overturned.
Opposition leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrosian sought to encourage a crowd of about 30,000 in the latest protest against alleged fraud in last Tuesday's presidential poll, which was officially won by Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian.
"Today we rule the square, tomorrow we will rule the country," he told cheering supporters, who chanted "Levon for president" and waved Armenian flags.
Fellow activist Nikol Pashenian urged the crowd to keep up pressure for the vote to be overturned, calling another rally for Saturday afternoon. "We will continue our protest until we win," he said.
Around a dozen tents had been set up on the square to allow protesters to keep a permanant vigil. Like the rallies, the camps have not been sanctioned by the authorities.
Protesters spent the night huddled around campfires and wrapped in blankets against bitter cold. They said they would protest until Ter-Petrosian is recognised as the true winner of the election.
"We'll sweep away the powers-that-be. We will fight to the end," 53-year-old Razmik Safarian, one of the activists, told AFP.
Official results from the election gave 52.9 percent of the vote to Sarkisian, the choice of outgoing President Robert Kocharian, who is obliged to step down after his second term.
Ter-Petrosian, who trailed with 21.5 percent, has demanded a rerun of the "shameful" election, alleging that dozens of his activists were beaten and that ballot stuffing, multiple voting and voter intimidation were widespread.
Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe described the election as "mostly" in line with international standards.
On Friday several thousand protesters marched past riot police to the central election commission to hand in a letter demanding a recount at 300 polling stations.
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