Terms of office of Yerevan Council of Elders are reduced

ArmInfo.The terms of office of the Council of Elders of Yerevan have been reduced. The decision on this was taken at a meeting of the Armenian government on August  16.

Representing the project, the Minister of Territorial Administration  and Development of Armenia Suren Papikyan noted that the decision of  the executive body is based on the second and third paragraphs of  Article 128 of the Constitutional Electoral Code, as well as on the  provisions of a number of acts, including the law "On Self-Government  in Yerevan" and the law "On budgetary system ". The Minister noted  that the Central Election Commission, after taking this decision  within 30 days, organizes the holding of new elections to the Council  of Elders. As Papikyan stressed the CEC is ready for elections both  technically, morally, and psychologically. The Armenian government  will allocate to the CEC 87.7 million drams for the conduct of the  elections.

As Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted, elections to the Council of  Elders will be the first large-scale elections after the change of  regime  in the country, and must become truly free and transparent.  Falsifiers and pre-election bribers should immediately be held  accountable. "I am sure that the will of the people will be fulfilled  during these elections," the Armenian government head said.

To recall, after Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan's  resignation on July  9, the Council of  Elders of Yerevan decided to convene a meeting on  July 16 at which the mayor was to be elected. The only candidate for  mayor of  Yerevan is the leader of the faction of the "Yerkir  Tsirani" party in the Council of Elders of Yerevan Zaruhi Postanjyan.  At the meeting, the quorum was not secured, because the day before  the faction of the Republican Party of Armenia and the "Yelq" bloc  announced that they will neither submit their candidates to the  mayor's post, nor attend the meeting. Disruption of the meeting means  that early elections to the Council of Elders of Yerevan should be  held.