Former mayor stripped of mandate in Yerevan

Ex-mayor of Yerevan, head of National Progress Hayk Marutyan was deprived of his mandate.

Some 34 people voted in favour, while Marutyan himself left the hall after his speech without waiting for the voting results, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

The issue of depriving Marutyan and four other representatives of the Mother Armenia bloc of the mandate is being discussed today at an extraordinary session of the Council of Elders on February 7.

Before Marutyan, Narine Hayrapetyan, a representative of the Mother Armenia opposition faction, was deprived of her mandate.

Earlier, opposition factions called for not ensuring quorum to fail the session. However, the head of the Public Voice faction (the party split) Vahan Avakyan showed up at the session of the Yerevan Council of Elders despite the call of the party's founder Vardan Ghukasyan (scandalous blogger "Dog") to boycott it. Avakyan thus ensured a quorum for the session, at which the majority faction is considering stripping five opposition deputies of their mandates.