Epress.am News from Armenia
In Armenia, talk of the likelihood of a “social revolt” are limited to press conferences by politicians, with their confirming or denying judgments, reports local daily 168 Jam (“168 Hours”).
“However, the prerequisites for a revolt become more expressed daily in the lives of everyday citizens, and you don’t have to participate in ‘great politics’ to notice this. Just the constant increases of the price of foodstuffs brings people day by day closer to that line on the other side of which is what’s called ‘social revolt.’
“The authorities take no concrete action toward easing the situation and are deeply involved, on one hand, in domestic political disputes; on the other hand, in foreign political games. It seems, in this situation at least the executive, if at least for show, should’ve taken steps to give the public hope. But it’s enough to follow official reports on [Armenian] Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan’s work day to be convinced that the government, led by him, greatly increases the likelihood of a social revolt.
“For example, yesterday Tigran Sargsyan read a lecture for senior army officers. This would’ve been laughable if it wasn’t so sad. While last week in his personal blog, he left some sort of message, describes his press service. It’s not important about what, since discussing this practice would mean to relate seriously to the ‘economic policy’ adopted in the Republic of Armenia. It’s quite symbolic that T. Sargsyan has begun to be more active in the virtual arena. It’s difficult to imagine a better prime minister for ‘Virtual Armenia.’ Last week, Boris Nemtsov made a very well-suited remark regarding Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, saying he’s not a president but a blogger. This assessment corresponds quite well also to our prime minister,” reports the daily.