“This is another warning that Gyumri should get rid of that mayor, that mayor’s family, that mayor’s clan as soon as possible,” Naira Zohrabyan, the secretary of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) parliamentary group, reacted in this manner to the attitude of Mayor of Gyumri Vardan Ghukasyan’s son.
Let us remind that after Vardan Ghukasyan refused the office of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) local organization director “at his own request” and it became clear that the RPA would not nominate and endorse Vardan Ghukasyan for the upcoming local elections, Ghukasyan’s not less notorious son drove with his escort by the house of Samvel Balasanyan, a PAP nominee for the mayor of Gyumri, and shouted, “You will not enjoy it.” www.aravot.am inquired of Naira Zohrabyan whether the party wasn’t going to apply to law-enforcers to prevent future developments, which were not ruled out, given Vardan Ghukasyan’s and his son’s reputation. “Certainly, it is a threat and it was voiced openly and publicly, therefore, the PAP doesn’t need to apply to anyone. Law-enforcers themselves should deal with that,” our interlocutor said, adding that, unfortunately, many functionaries in our country often considered the given territory as their property, “a territory inherited from their ancestors and honestly consider any other candidate’s aspirations as an infringement on personal inheritance.” Our interlocutor considers the mayor of Gyumri with his aspirations and “unhealthy, inadequate ambitions” as a clear manifestation of that.
In Ms. Zohrabyan’s opinion, that phenomenon is a very serious systemic problem, which requires a systemic solution, and in this particular case, she is convinced that the sooner Gyumri gets rid of that clan, the sooner the town will have a possibility to develop and breathe freely.
To be completely honest, one should note that PAP candidate Samvel Balasanyan doesn’t stand out for his partisan past either, which, naturally, is already used for benefit. www.aravot.am inquired whether it was not a problem for the PAP. “You have used the word ‘benefit’ quite accurately. Those are just attempts to benefit. The overtones of those attempts, their aims are certainly clear and obvious for us. Samvel Balasanyan is the candidate of the Prosperous Armenia Party and he has carried out the decision of the party’s political council. If the party had decided to nominate another candidate, naturally, Samvel Balasanyan wouldn’t have been nominated.”
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Nelly GRIGORYAN
