Op-ed by Karen Harutyunyan, Editor-in-chief
On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced via Facebook Live that preliminary elections would be held in Gyumri.
Armenia’s second-largest city has been without a mayor for over a month following the resignation of the ruling “Balasanyan” alliance.
Pashinyan stated that upcoming legislative changes would allow him to appoint an interim mayor in Gyumri. “We will ask Civil Contract party members and supporters to nominate candidates or self-nominate […]. I will appoint the winning candidate as Gyumri’s acting mayor, who will likely be our mayoral candidate in the upcoming City Council elections,” Pashinyan said.
“Notably, about a month ago, when members of the ‘Balasanyan’ alliance stepped down, the Civil Contract party announced their candidate for the snap elections. Now, however, Armenia’s ruling party is refusing to proceed with snap elections in Gyumri.”
Pashinyan’s decision to hold preliminary elections in Gyumri is an undemocratic move. He is essentially avoiding regular elections at this stage, perhaps fearing a potential defeat. Instead, he has opted for political maneuvering through a kind of “primary” election system.
Gyumri is not an isolated case; it reflects a broader pattern of central government interference in local self-government elections and pressure on elected officials.
See: A Controversial Series of Municipal Elections Favoring Civil Contract (in Armenian)
In December 2021, the “Mamikon Aslanyan” alliance won the most votes in Vanadzor’s elections. Ten days later, the alliance’s leader and incumbent mayor Mamikon Aslanyan was arrested. Eventually, the Prime Minister appointed someone with a criminal record as acting mayor of Armenia’s third-largest city.
In December 2021, the ruling party forced through its candidate as mayor in Talin through pressure tactics, despite lacking the necessary votes. In Alaverdi, Arkadi Tamazyan, a member of the ‘Country of Living’ party and the city’s mayor, was removed from office in December 2023 after prolonged pressure. He was replaced by a Civil Contract party member.
The Pashinyan administration has similarly intervened to alter unfavorable local election outcomes in Vedi, Berd, Akhurian, Sisian, Parakar, Vardenis, and Maralik.
In 2024, the ruling party stripped several opposition members of their mandates in Yerevan’s Council, including Hayk Marutyan, the main challenger to the incumbent mayor in the September 2023 elections. Earlier, in December 2021, the ruling party had removed Marutyan from the position of Yerevan’s mayor, citing a “rupture” between him and the party.
The Gyumri case is part of a concerning trend of pressure on local self-government systems, particularly noteworthy as it comes ahead of the nationwide parliamentary elections slated for June 2026.
Surprisingly, some civil society representatives — self-proclaimed “democracy champions” — are either defending Pashinyan’s actions in Gyumri or have yet to express their position.
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