They were ousted on the grounds that they have skipped most council sessions and votes. They dismissed the official explanation, saying that their absence was part of legitimate political boycotts and accusing the authorities of stifling dissent.
“This is another attempt to get rid of Avinian’s opponents,” charged one of the ousted oppositionists, Grigor Yeritsian.
Yeritsian is a senior member of former Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutian’s party that finished second in the last municipal elections held in September 2023. Marutian and two other council members representing the radical opposition Mayr Hayastan alliance were removed in February for the same declared reasons.
The two other councilors stripped of their seats this time around, Anush Khudaverdian and Anush Ginosian, defected late last year from the Public Voice party that was until recently led by a controversial video blogger based in the United States.
Although Public Voice campaigned for the September 2023 polls on an opposition platform, it decisively helped Civil Contract install Avinian as mayor last October. Its two members openly supporting the Armenian government have also enabled the ruling party and its local coalition partner, the Hanrapetutyun party, to push other key decisions through the city council. One of those members, Vahan Avakian, admitted on Tuesday that he wants to replace Khudaverdian and Ginosian by figures loyal to him.
The opposition factions linked the fresh ousters of their members with their plans to attempt next month a vote of no confidence in Avinian, who is regarded by them as an illegitimate mayor. They also renewed their calls for snap municipal elections.
Avinian claimed that he is open to holding such a vote. He also insisted that Yeritsian, Khudaverdian and Ginosian were removed from the Yerevan legislature for absenteeism, rather than their political views and activities.
“Dear compatriots, lies and deceit are the main pillar of this political force,” Yeritsian shot back, appealing to Yerevan residents.
Civil Contract, which is led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, fell well short of a majority in the city council in the 2023 polls. Together with Hanrapetutyun, it controls only 32 of the 65 council seats. Marutian’s National Progress party and Mayr Hayastan hold 26 seats between them.
Public Voice won the remaining 7 seats. The obscure party’s nominal chairman, Artak Galstian, has not attended any council session because of being held in pre-trial detention on charges of blackmail and extortion. The Armenian authorities have made no attempts to strip Galstian of his council seat.