Residents of the Armenian capital will go to the polls to elect a new municipal assembly that will in turn appoint the city’s mayor.
The last mayor, Hrachya Sargsian, stepped down on March 17 after only 15 months in office. Yerevan has since been effectively run by Tigran Avinian, a deputy mayor nominated by the ruling Civil Contract party for the vacant post. The party raised $1.3 million for its election campaign during an event last week attended by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
It remains unclear whether Avinian and the ruling party will be challenged by any of the two opposition alliances represented in the Armenian parliament.
The main opposition Hayastan alliance is not known to have even discussed the possibility of joining the mayoral. A key member of Hayastan, the Dashnaktsutyun party, is discussing the matter separately amid apparent cracks emerging in the alliance led by former President Robert Kocharian.
“The discussions within Dashnaktsutyun involve local structures and the Yerevan city committee, and there will be a full statement on our participation or nonparticipation in the next few days,” Gegham Manukian, a senior party figure, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Friday.
Pativ Unem, the other opposition bloc dominated by the former ruling Republican Party (HHK), has held no such discussions, according to one of its senior members, Hayk Mamijanian.
“The fact that we haven’t discussed it shows that our nation has much more important problems and challenges to deal with,” said Mamijanian. “But the issue will definitely be discussed. As soon as we make a decision it will be made public.”
Avinian would also face a serious challenge from Hayk Marutian, whom Pashinian’s political team had installed as mayor after winning the overwhelming majority of seats in the city council in 2018. The council ousted Marutian in December 2021 after he fell out with the prime minister. The former TV comedian remains coy about his participation in the upcoming elections.
The deadline for the submission by election contenders of necessary documents to the Central Election Commission is August 13.