Armenia's new president to take office amid protests

Representatives of 58 countries were to attend the swearing-in ceremony and a military parade in and around the capital Yerevan's opera house, said Viktor Sogomonian, outgoing President Robert Kocharian’s spokesman.   Â

 

A seventh-century copy of the New Testament from Armenia’s famed Matenadaran collection of ancient Christian manuscripts and an original copy of the constitution written after the country's independence from the Soviet Union was to be used in the ceremony.ÂIt was to conclude with a blessing of Sarkisian by Catholicos Garegin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

 

Supporters of opposition candidate and former president Levon Ter-Petrosian were meanwhile preparing to hold a memorial ceremony outside the Yerevan mayors office, where post-election clashes left eight dead.

 

"While the bloody regime is coronating its ruler, members of society will gather to honor the memory of the dead and lay flowers where these tragic events took place," Ter-Petrosian’s spokesman Arman Musinian told AFP.

 

Public demonstrations are banned under a presidential decree passed following the violence, which erupted after riot police dispersed thousands of protesters who had rallied for 11 days to contest the result of the vote.Â

 

Seven civilians and one security officer were killed in the unrest and dozens were injured, many from gunshot wounds. A 20-day state of emergency imposed after the unrest was lifted on March 20, but authorities have not said when the ban on protests may be rescinded. Police have arrested 90 people in connection with the unrest, including many senior opposition figures.

 

The opposition claims the election was rigged to ensure Sarkisian’s victory, but international observers said the vote had mostly met democratic standards.
In his final televised address as president, Kocharian said on Tuesday that he was leaving office with no regrets.

 

"Progress in the modernisation of the country is obvious, the lives of its citizens have fundamentally improved," he said. "At the same time, it is obvious that much remains to be done. Quality of life is far from a desirable level. This is the task of the next president and government," he added.

 

Speculation had been rife in Armenia that Kocharian intended to take Sarkisian’s place as prime minister following the inauguration, but on Tuesday the ruling Republican Party nominated Central Bank Chairman Tigran Sarkisian to head the new government. Tigran Sarkisian is not related to the incoming president.

 

A mountainous country of about three million people -- wedged between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey -- Armenia has seen repeated political violence and post-election protests since gaining its independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.