"Hraparak": Yerevan cannot have opposition mayor

"Yesterday was the deadline for members of the Yerevan Council of Elders to recuse themselves. The CEC reported that no one from the 'The Voice of People' party had recused themselves. Meanwhile, the first number on the list, Artak Galstyan, has been arrested, while the second, Tigran Urikhanyan, is wanted and outside Armenia," Yerevan-based Hraparak daily wrote.

"This means that there cannot be an opposition mayor in Yerevan, because if even Galstyan by some miracle comes to the meeting of the Council of Elders, Urikhanyan will be arrested upon entering Armenia," says the article, according to Caliber.Az.

That is, the opposition will not be able to elect Hayk Marutyan as mayor even if 3 non-authoritative forces come to a consensus on his candidature. The sources assure that they have 'recruited' several members from Marutyan's list and through them, a quorum will be ensured at the session of the Council of Elders, which is the first priority. In the first vote, Avinian will not get 33 votes, but the meeting will be held, in the second vote he will pass with a majority. And if the quorum cannot be secured twice, the Council of Elders should be dissolved and new elections should be announced," the newspaper writes.