Protests against fare rise in Yerevan 

ArmInfo. Since early morning, protests organized by members of the Mother Armenia faction in the Council of Elders have been ongoing in Yerevan. The boycotters  continue to demand the cancellation of the increase in transport  prices, calling on citizens to continue not to pay for travel.

According to videos distributed in the Armenian segment of social  networks, opposition forces supporting the boycott are moving around  the city and conducting information campaigns at public transport  stops.  They call for continuing to put pressure on the capital's  authorities to return the previous fare of 100 drams.

In a conversation with journalists, Mother Armenia faction member  Grigor Iskandaryan emphasized that the majority of citizens support  the boycott and are against the new tariffs. He recalled that  recently there have been problems with drivers who are trying to  hinder the protest. In this regard, members of the faction contacted  Yerevan Bus CJSC to find out what measures could be taken against  drivers who demonstrate incompetence towards boycotting passengers.  Iskandaryan recalled that, according to the law, drivers do not have  the right to demand payment for travel from passengers or hinder  protests.

"I call on citizens to record cases of violation of their rights by  drivers on video and pass these materials to the faction for further  action against illegal actions," Iskandaryan said.

In addition, the member of the Council of Elders reported that people  have been noticed on buses who are calling on passengers to pay for  their fares and are thus trying to disrupt the boycott. As it turned  out, these are employees of the Kentron district municipality, who  were sent to the buses in ordinary clothes to convince people not to  support the protest. Iskandaryan called on citizens not to succumb to  provocations, and for municipal employees to focus on fulfilling  their direct duties, warning that they may be held accountable for  such actions.

The boycott against the increase in transport prices has been going  on for 18 days. Earlier, during a press conference, the second  President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan said that he did not understand  the authorities' explanations regarding the increase in the cost of  travel on transport. The politician emphasized that the direct  responsibility of city authorities is to provide citizens with  quality public transport, and this can in no way be linked to its  cost. Further, the second President of Armenia recalled that 25% of  the country's population is considered poor. He is confident that the  city authorities should calculate the income of this particular  segment of the population and calculate the cost of public transport  based on what amount is acceptable for them, and subsidize the rest  from the Yerevan budget if it differs from the figure of the cost of  travel. "Nowhere in the world is public transport considered a  business. The money that was squandered through the "Armenian  National Interests Fund" (ANIF) would have been enough to improve the  condition of transport. But instead, they are reaching into people's  pockets," the second President of Armenia said.