Protest voters

UNTIL recently, Armenia was quieter than its neighbours. Armenians seemed to have little to complain of. The economy has racked up ten years of growth, inflation is low, the currency stable. President Robert Kocharian's government has largely ensured access to light, heat and other basics. Yet the opposition has been staging increasingly noisy protests calling for the departure of Mr Kocharian, whose March 2003 re-election was widely seen as fraudulent. As a minimum, the opposition wants a referendum to test support for the government, a compromise recommended by Armenia's constitutional court. Mr Kocharian has given dark warnings to participants in “illegal” protest rallies, and arrested ringleaders. Vehicles driving into Yerevan have been forced back, for fear they might carry demonstrators. One 6,000-strong protest was greeted by water cannons.