Council of Elders votes for early termination of powers of Yerevan  former mayor 

ArmInfo.The Council of Elders of Yerevan voted for the early termination of the powers of a member of the National Progress faction, former mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan.

34 members of the Council of Elders voted for depriving Marutyan of  his mandate, with 10 votes against.  The basis for making such a  decision was the former mayor's non-participation in meetings of the  Council of Elders.

In his speech, the former mayor noted that the deprivation of his  mandate is a purely political decision and 'settling scores'. He  recalled his speech in December 2023 at a meeting of the Council of  Elders, during which he stated that after increasing parking tariffs  ("red lines"), the current authorities will follow the path of a  sharp increase in public transport fares. Already at the first  meeting of the Council in 2024, a draft decision was adopted to more  than double transport fares. Moreover, this was done, as the former  mayor noted, without any logical calculations or justification.

Marutyan noted that depriving opposition members of their mandates  for numerous absences does not stand up to criticism and smacks of  double standards. In particular, he asked those present why in the  Council of Elders of the previous convocation the ruling faction did  not exclude numerous representatives who had not come to meetings for  years. "The only person you expelled from the Council of Elders is  Lusine Mkhoyan. 

You expelled a pregnant woman only because she did not support your  initiative to express a vote of no confidence in me. This is really  your whole being. And today you want to expel me and my colleagues  because we opposed you and demand your resignation. All your talk and  excuses about long absences are idle chatter," Marutyan said, adding  that government officials do not have the right to deprive him of his  mandate, since voters gave him this document. He recalled that work  in the Council of Elders is carried out on a voluntary basis, a  member of the Council does not receive a salary, and accordingly, the  mayor and the ruling faction are not his employers. "I did not come  to the meetings so as not to participate in making the shameful  decision to increase parking fees, I did not come so as not to  approve expenses for the inauguration of the mayor in the amount of  87 million drams, so as not to increase transport fares," he  explained.

It should be noted that before Marutyan, Narine Hayrapetyan, a  representative of the "Mother Armenia" opposition faction, was  deprived of her mandate.

On February 5, the capital authorities presented a draft decision to  increase the cost of travel on public transport by 2.6 times. It is  proposed, in particular, to introduce travel cards for payment in  public transport.  So, in particular, a monthly card for 60 trips  will cost 183.3 drams for each trip. An electronic travel card for 60  trips will cost 180 drams for each trip. A three-month subscription,  designed for 180 trips, will cost 133.8 and 33.3 drams for each trip,  respectively. An annual subscription for 1000 trips will cost 110 and  106 drams for each trip, respectively. A one-day QR card for eight  trips from the moment of activation will cost 112.5 drams for each  trip. Its electronic equivalent will cost 110 drams for each trip. A  weekly QR card for 30 trips will cost 166.6 and 160 drams for each  trip, respectively. The price for one trip using a QR card for three  trips within 70 minutes will remain the same - 100 drams for each  trip. Its electronic counterpart will cost 93.3 drams for each trip.

A card for ten trips within 30 days will cost 260 drams for each  trip. Its electronic analogue will cost 250 drams for each trip. The  cost of a trip to Zvartnots airport is planned to increase from 300  to 500 drams. In case of electronic payment, the cost will be 480  drams.

The basis for increasing tariffs, according to the authors of the  draft decision, is the need to develop the city's public transport  network, as well as the introduction of a single payment system. The  decision is planned to come into force on September 1, 2024.