Armenian kiosk owners protest outside Government building

A group of owners of kiosks gathered today outside the Government building to protest against Yerevan Mayor Karen Karapetyan's decision to shut down private stalls in the capital city, Tert.am reported.

Anahit Bakhshyan of the opposition Heritage party faction in parliament attempted to raise the problem at the cabinet meeting on Thursday, but Mayor Karapetyan did not allow her to speak, asking the MP not to interrupt the discussion.

Bakshyan told the protesters after the meeting that the government did not seem to be hailing the Mayor's decision.

"It looks as though Yerevan were country inside a country, with Karen Karapetyan being the president," she said.

The protesters expressed disappointment with the results of the discussion, complaining that that the Mayor's office fails to propose any program detailing specific steps for each individual case.

However, the cabinet members had said at the meeting that they would not allow a mass shutdown and would demonstrate an individual approach to each case to prevent a social tension. They said kiosks would not be dismantled unless they are found to create problems for the municipal economy.


/Trend/