/By AzerNews/

By Laman Sadigova

Mass protests are growing in scale in Armenia and are attracting more people dissatisfied with the tough social and economic conditions in the country.

Accompanied by frequent police violence, the rallies are gaining momentum day by day, each time demonstrating the strong gap between the government and people.

Last week a large-scale demonstration against a price rise in electricity tariffs again caused an explosion of violence against civilians who were demanding their rights.

Armenian police did not hesitate to brute force, beatings and arrests. As a result, nearly 50 demonstrators were arrested for simply for demanding justice.

It would be naive to believe that the government's attempt to drown out the people's voice and "clear" Yerevan's streets will be successful, given that the problems in this post-Soviet country are only growing.

In their quest to earn a living, Armenian citizens, who are suffering from the deep economic crisis, disproportionately work as taxi drivers. The announcements about impending rise in the price of cars are testing the patience of people, every third of which is officially referred to as poor by a World Bank report. These circumstances may certainly force cab drivers from of streets, as there is no other way to stand such tyranny of the authorities.

The protests may be inflamed by the employees of the South Caucasian Railways Company, who plan to stage demonstrations if the company does not revise new regulations that reduce working hours and lower wages.

Inflation stood at 4.8 percent from January to August 2015 compared to the same period of last year, while prices on consumer goods rose by 5.5 percent, food products by 5.2 percent, and prices for nonfood items by 5.9 percent.

And in the background of all this financial turmoil, both the government and the Armenian Foreign Ministry continue to squander the country’s budget. A recent purchase of microphones and speakers from the Ovation production center cost an incredible 41.31 million drums for the government, while 1.68 million drams was spent on purchase of three economy-class tickets, elucidating the height of corruption in the country. Such cases of wasteful budget spending are common in Armenia and the government does not even hesitate to announce this spending.

The chaos in the country's political and economic life is becoming dangerous because no one either in or outside of the country can hear the protesters who are revolting against the lawlessness.

The aggressive regime leaves no hope for its citizens for a perspective future and migration is in its peak. There is other way than to flee...