Yerevan new mayor expresses confidence in success of cooperation with  Republic party

ArmInfo. Newly elected mayor of Yerevan Tigran Avinyan expressed confidence in the success of  cooperation in the Council of Elders of Yerevan between th Civil Contract and the Republic parties.

According to him, the electoral processes that took place after 2018  have brought the country to new realities, when during the elections  the need to form such alliances may arise not only in the National  Assembly, but also in other major cities of the country.

Avinyan noted that it is too early to talk about the post of first  vice-mayor of Yerevan, for which, according to the Armenian media,  one of the leaders of the Republic party, Artak Zeynalyan, is  applying. "There will be a statement about this, which I think will  be issued very soon. To make decisions on personnel matters, it is  necessary to have a clear list of candidates at hand.  In this case,  we should not forget that it is not about the distribution of  positions or seats, it is extremely important that the candidates are  ready to accept the responsibility, taking into account their  capabilities, which are necessary. These people will bear a very  heavy burden in solving the priority problems of Yerevan residents,"  the mayor said.

Speaking about the reasons for non-participation in the mayor's  inauguration ceremony, Avinyan noted that this event provides for a  different format, the premises of the city hall were completely  filled. "In any case, a live broadcast was provided," the capital's  mayor emphasized.

On October 10, following the results of voting in the newly elected  Council of Elders of the capital of Armenia, Tigran Avinyan became  the new mayor of Yerevan. In total, 37 members of the Council out of  65 took part in the voting. At the session, only the representative  of the ruling Civil Contract party Tigran Avinyan was nominated, 32  members of the Council for him, and 5 members voted against him.  As  expected, the Republic and Public Voice parties supported the  election of Avinyan as mayor. The latter, by the way, has constantly  positioned itself as an opposition political force, a number of whose  representatives are accused of committing crimes. In any case, the  party took part in the meeting of the Council of Elders, which  provided the necessary quorum for the reproduction of the Civil  Contract party in the capital.

In this regard, answering the question about what the ruling force  promised the Public Voice party, especially against the backdrop of  reports about the release from criminal liability of party leader  Vardan Ghukasyan's sister, Lusine Ghukasyan, Avinyan noted that the  ruling party cannot turn into a subject of bargaining with persons  associated with criminal cases. "This has already been confirmed  several times.  We don't even enter this field. The process that  takes place in the judicial and legal system proceeds independently  of the processes that take place on the political field," Avinyan  noted, adding that the decision of the Public Voice party to take  part in the first meeting of the Council of Elders was the decision  of this political force. "They reported this publicly, and we did not  influence this decision," the mayor said.