Pashinyan and Postanjyan to Challenge RPA Incumbent in Yerevan Mayor Race

ARF Not to Participate in Yerevan Mayoral Elections

YEREVAN (A.W.)— On April 7, Yelk opposition bloc leader Nigol Pashinyan announced his mayoral candidacy in the upcoming Yerevan elections, challenging Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) incumbent Mayor Taron Margaryan.

Voters in Yerevan will go to the polls on May 14 to elect a new municipal council that will then choose a mayor. The current Yerevan council is controlled by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA). Margaryan has been mayor since 2011.

The governing board of the RPA headed by Armenian President Serge Sarkisian nominated Margaryan for reelection on April 6. The party’s spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov said that Margaryan has achieved very positive results during his time as mayor.

“Our goal in these elections is to achieve victory,” Pashinyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian service outside the municipal administration building after announcing his mayoral candidacy and Yelk’s electoral list.

“Yelk is determined to give Yerevan residents an opportunity to elect a mayor who will serve their interests and will not use his position to earn millions of dollars,” added Pashinyan.

Pashinyan explained how during the April 2 elections, Yelk had a strong showing of support in Yerevan from voters. The bloc received 14 percent of its votes in Yerevan, according to the Central Electoral Commission. He also criticized Margaryan’s work as mayor, pointing out the poor state of public transportation.

Meanwhile, Gagik Tsarukyan’s alliance, as well as other political groups, have decided not to run for mayor at all.  On April 8, Tsarukyan’s bloc announced in a statement that his bloc did not have enough time to prepare for the Mayoral Elections since they were busy with the April 2 elections.

Also on April 8, newly formed opposition party Yerkir Tsirani (Land of Apricots) published a statement announcing its candidacy in the upcoming Mayoral Elections. The party’s list will be headed by Zaruhi Postanjyan.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) disclosed that the party decided not to participate in the municipal elections based on the party’s performance in the April 2 elections. Most of the party’s votes came from outside the capital.