A top candidate for Yerevan mayor running in this month’s municipal elections in an alliance loyal to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has expressed his regret over some controversial statements he made during a weekend campaign fundraising event.
Hayk Marutian, a popular comedian, actor and producer who heads the My Step alliance, spoke about the division into “whites and blacks” as he addressed his team members and contributors on Sunday.
“It’s a very clear situation in Armenia today. There are white forces and black forces. I want to officially state that we are white forces, and all those who do not want us to succeed are black forces,” said Marutian.
In his speech at the event the mayoral candidate also praised the professionalism of his team, using the expression “there is no game against us”, which was used by some Armenian leaders in the past and has acquired a negative connotation in Armenian society.
The remarks were swiftly construed by representatives of the former government as discrimination against part of society that does not share the ideas of the political team that came to power in Armenia in the wake of last spring’s ‘velvet revolution’.
Former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian, in particular, published an angry post on his Facebook account, describing Marutian as a “provincial clown.”
Gayane Abrahamian, who is a candidate for the Council of Elders with My Step, said that Marutian’s remarks were not directed against the society and that he did not mean to put himself and his team above the society with his statements.
“First of all, he stressed that we have a strong team, as in our election slate there are not only representatives of the [Pashinian-led] Civil Contract party, but also people who took part in civil initiatives in different years. And it was this system of values that was stressed,” Abrahamian said.
Reacting to the criticism from ex-defense minister Sargsian, Abrahamian reminded that Serzh Sarkisian also made some controversial statements while being incumbent president and they never elicited any reactions from his ally. Besides, she said, unlike Sarkisian, Marutian is not in power yet.
In admitting his mistake Marutian said that the only entity in Armenia against which “there is no game” is the people of the country.
Representatives of the parties and groups running in the September 23 elections commented on the situation in different ways.
Top candidates from the Prosperous Armenia and Dashnaktsutyun parties chose not to comment on Marutian’s statements, while Anahit Tarkhanian, a mayoral candidate from the Yerevan Public group, said that My Step’s candidate’s statement “is the tactics of his whole team.”
“We all should understand that there are no ‘blacks and whites’ in society. There is a community where different opinions exist,” Tarkhanian said.
Hovsep Khurshudian, of Heritage, meanwhile, said that if Marutian meant forces that are going to thwart the elections, then they also consider such forces to be “black”. Yet, according to Khurshudian, what Marutian said was different. “Let’s accept his regretting his words and move on… He has ambitions to govern the capital of the new Armenia, and in this sense he should try as far as possible not to cause aversion among friendly forces,” the Heritage candidate said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pashinian on Tuesday weighed in on the issue, acknowledging that Marutian’s remarks were “not quite correct.” “I think that any statements, any political statement made by us should fit the [logic] of the revolution of love and solidarity. So, I think we should talk about more vivid colors than black,” he commented.