ArmInfo. "Our opposition factions can not work together, so their votes in the Armenian parliament do not play a significant role and do not have much weight. Only if two opposition factions of Yelq and Tsarukyan get united , the government will hear them," Tevan Poghosyan, director of the International Human development Center, told during a press conference on January 10, referring to the forthcoming protest action of the Elk bloc against raising prices for main commodities.
At the same time, he reacted with a deal of skepticism to the forthcoming protest action, noting that such methods would hardly be able to influence the authorities in the matter of lowering prices.
According to him, a significant role in restraining price increases has the government, which should conduct an appropriate preventive policy. "If oil from New Zealand has risen in price, the Armenian government should stimulate the production of domestic oil, but the Armenian government is occupied with other problems",Poghosyan said.
Answering the question of ArmInfo reporter regarding whether the protest action of the Yelq bloc can lead to a repeat of the events in Iran, the expert stressed that everything happened spontaneously in Iran, meanwhile the action of the Yelq bloc is planned. However, he stressed, there is also a strong protest mass in Armenian society.
"If the government makes concessions and satisfies the demands of consumers, then this is probably all over, but if the authorities do nothing, it is difficult to predict what it will all be like.
"When protest actions begin, we will see their scale and the reaction of the authorities , then it will be possible to make any forecasts, "Poghosyan concluded.
The opposition faction "Elk" in connection with a large-scale increase in prices for essential goods intends to hold a rally on March 19 at 17:00. Note that since January 1, 2018 in Armenia there has been a significant increase in prices for a number of products, including poultry, oil, gasoline, liquefied gas, spirits, eggs, sugar, etc. In addition, in the near future, the increase tobacco products process increase is expected as well. Earlier it was reported that the rise in price was due to the increase in customs duties for more than 800 types of goods. The rise in prices is mainly due to the fact that from January 1, 2018, the new Customs Code of the EAEC came into force. This implies an increase in customs duties on goods from countries that are not members of the EAEC.