Yerevan--Hard-core Armenian protesters refused to disperse from the capital's centre on Sunday even after President Serzh Sarkisian said the government would shoulder the burden of a controversial hike in electricity prices.
Thousands were expected to take to the streets of Yerevan in the evening with the rallies against rising electricity prices growing into a broader protest movement.
Crowds have been taking to the streets of the capital Yerevan since June 19 to protest against a planned 16-percent hike in electricity prices from August in the largest anti-government demonstrations the ex-Soviet nation of 3.2 million has seen in years.
Under pressure to end the unrest, President Sarkisian announced Saturday that the government would temporarily "bear the burden" of the higher rates pending an audit of Armenia's power distribution company.
The company is owned by a Moscow-based state holding which is controlled by a top ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But the announcement failed to appease the protesters, with activists calling a major rally for Sunday evening.
Some 200-300 hard-core protesters maintained a vigil near the presidential palace Sunday morning, an AFP correspondent reported.
After police dispersed a rally with water cannon last week, new demands sprang up, with activists now calling on the authorities to punish police.
Chanting "Victory!" and dancing, some 10,000 people rallied near the presidential palace on Saturday, blocking traffic on the city's main thoroughfare.
"We will continue our fight," one of the activists, Vaginak Shushanyan, told a cheering crowd.
AFP
