Person Gyumri residents want to see as mayor desirable - minister 

ArmInfo. Unfortunately, we  often notice that our legislation is not able to answer all questions  and situations, and in the current situation in Gyumri, we are forced  to appoint an acting head of the city. This was stated by the  Minister of Economy of Armenia Gevorg Papoyan in a conversation with  journalists on November 27.

In this vein, he emphasized that there is a need to make legislative  changes in order to implement this process. "Because there is no such  possibility, if there are no changes, the city will be left without  management," the head of the economic department said.

At the same time, Papoyan emphasized that the authorities want to  appoint an acting head of the city, the person that the residents of  Gyumri want to see at the head of their city. Without revealing any  details, he noted that the residents of Gyumri will have the right to  express their opinion. To the objection of journalists that there is  no corresponding mechanism, the minister emphasized that the  mechanisms will be known in the near future. The head of the  department noted that the prime minister will appoint a person who  will naturally be in solidarity with the ruling party, but at the  same time, as he continued, this person must go through the election  stage and be preferable for the Gyumri residents. The force that  previously won in Gyumri, as Papoyan noted, demonstrated  irresponsibility towards the city and its residents.  , - he said.

On October 28, Gyumri Mayor Vardges Samsonyan resigned. This happened  after a criminal case was opened against the founder of the bloc,  former mayor Samvel Balasanyan, who is accused of illegally  alienating land plots around the famous "Black Fortress".

One of Balasanyan's sons was recently detained. At the same time,  members of the Council of Elders of the "Balasanyan" bloc also  resigned. Deputy Karen Sarukhanyan, who previously held the position  of governor of Shirak, became the State Duma candidate for mayor of  Gyumri. On November 8, the meeting of the Gyumri Council of Elders to  elect a new mayor of the city failed due to the lack of a quorum.

Recently, the head of the "Civil Contract" faction of the Gyumri  Council of Elders, Knarik Harutyunyan, assured that the "GD" party  does not pursue the goal of seizing power in Gyumri and that  decisions in Gyumri are made by Gyumreans. She recalled that in the  2021 Gyumri local government elections, the Civil Contract party took  2nd place. However, further cooperation with the Balasanyan alliance  did not work out, and the State Duma tore up the memorandum on  coalition cooperation. Meanwhile, according to the media, the Civil  Contract intends to seize power in Gyumri with the help of the heads  of the Democracy, Law, Discipline parties Vardan Ghukasyan and the  Republic party Aram Sargsyan, who are running for mayor, thus  repeating the Yerevan scenario and taking control of the city  together with other parties.