A Year On, Revolutionary Hopes Endure For Armenians

Yerevan, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th May, 2019 ) :A year ago, physicist Ruben Aidinyan was one of the tens of thousands who packed the main square of Armenia's capital as outraged protesters forced veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian to resign in the face of a popular uprising against corruption and poverty.

The heady days of the 2018 revolt in Yerevan's Republic Square may be over but for many Armenians like Aidinyan hope endures that their new leaders have set the impoverished Caucasus country on the right path.

"What we expected from the revolution is now coming true," said Aidinyan, 66, standing in the square -- the epicentre of mass protests that swept Armenia's corrupt elites from power.

The revolt erupted in April 2018 after Sarkisian tried to switch to become elected prime minister after serving ten years as president in a bid to stay in power.

The move proved the last straw for Armenians, long frustrated over the country's sluggish economy, entrenched poverty, and deep corruption.

Spearheaded by hugely popular opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan, weeks of street protests led to Sarkisian's resignation and the demise of his ruling party, drastically reshaping the country's political landscape.

Pashinyan was elected prime minister last May, promising democratic and economic reforms in the country of some three million people.

After a year in office, the 43-year-old former journalist has achieved "radical change," said Aidinyan.

"I am now a free citizen of a free country, I can freely express my political views." For another Yerevan resident, 30-year-old archaeologist Avetis Grigoryan, "one of the most important achievements since the revolution is that old corrupt officials have been replaced by honest and competent people." "Every time I pass the (Republic) Square, I am overwhelmed with memories of the revolution," he said.

Grigoryan also took part in the weeks of protests last year to oust the old guard.

"I dreamed of a positive change in my country. That change is now taking place," he said.

At a press conference last week, Pashinyan listed 51,000 new jobs, rising wages and arrests of corrupt officials as among the "hundred achievements" of his cabinet over the last year.