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Can A Comedian Become Mayor of Yerevan?
Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party seems to have made a peculiar choice for their mayoral nominee in the upcoming Yerevan City Council elections. Hayk Marutian came out on top of a four-way leadership bid which included parliament deputy Alen Simonian, Deputy Labor Minister Zaruhi Batoyan and an aide to Pashinian, Srbuhi Ghazarian.
The resignation of Yerevan’s Republican Mayor, Taron Markaryan
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I think its a bit unfair to present Marutian as a comedian. In a small and relatively poor country like Armenia, he managed to make art a profitable business. Unlike many other actors, he did not resort to political prostitution to survive. He is self-made and principled. He made himself a mini-empire, at least by Armenia’s standard, by making some of the most successful Armenian movies in the last few years. His biggest challenge will be to dissociate himself from his comedy characters.
I wouldn’t mind if they elect Zaruhi but in the last few years after leaving Heritage party, she acts like a stubborn political activist instead of an experienced politician. From her refusal to cooperate with any other political party to her assertions that her party is the only real opposition. She couldn’t even work with the two other male members of her own political party in the city council. I really love her as a strong woman in Armenia’s politics but with that attitude she cannot control a city with one million population.
Art? You call low brow comedy art? It’s like calling the New York Post literature
A refreshing piece… very informative, carrying depth and yet written in an accessible way. Keep it coming!
That’s quite innacurate about historic architecture. Historic buildings are not gone. The old housing that you’re glorifying here were like slums before they were replaced by the bland condos.
Marshrutkas make perfect sense in cities like Yerevan where public transit infrastructure is costly and doesn’t sufficiently extend to cover the residential areas. It’s ok to have creative transit solutions.