Azatutyun.am. The next municipal elections in Yerevan will take place on September 17, according to Armenia’s Central Election Commission (CEC).
Speaking to state television, the CEC chairman, Vahagn Hovakimian, said the election date, which has to be confirmed by the Armenian government, is mandated by an Armenian law on local self-governance.
Yerevan residents will to go the polls to elect a new municipal assembly that will in turn appoint the city’s mayor.
Yerevan’s last mayor, Hrachya Sargsian, stepped down on March 17 after only 15 months in office. The Armenian capital has since been effectively run by Tigran Avinian, a deputy mayor nominated by the ruling Civil Contract party for the vacant post.
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Sargsian’s resignation is believed to have been designed to boost the party’s and Avinian’s chances in the upcoming polls.
Avinian has kept a high profile for the last two months, chairing meetings with municipal officials, issuing instructions to them and talking to ordinary citizens. Critics accuse him of abusing his position to prematurely conduct his election campaign.
The 34-year-old vice-mayor allied to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian dismissed these claims as he chaired a recent session of the current city council.
Unlike several fringe parties, none of Armenia’s leading opposition groups has nominated a mayoral candidate so far. Artsvik Minasian, a senior member of the main opposition Hayastan alliance, said on Friday that it clarify its intentions later this month.
The last Yerevan elections were held in September 2018. Pashinian’s bloc won the overwhelming majority of seats in the city council and installed TV comedian Hayk Marutian as mayor. The council ousted Marutian in December 2021 after he fell out with Pashinian.
