Pashinyan ally says opposition mayor of Gyumri should be "muzzled"

Ruben Rubinyan, deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament and a member of the ruling Civil Contract party, has urged that Vardan Gukasyan, the opposition mayor of Gyumri, be silenced following the mayor’s repeated public attacks on Armenia’s independence.

In a social media post, Rubinyan accused Gukasyan of securing his mayoralty through a political arrangement involving former leaders Serzh Sargsyan, Robert Kocharyan, Ktrich Nersisyan and the Communist Party, and of neglecting municipal responsibilities in favour of denouncing the country’s sovereignty, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

“So, let’s get this straight! Vardanik, who became mayor as a result of political incest between Serzh Sargsyan, Kocharyan, Ktrich Nersisyan and the communists, instead of dealing with the problems of Gyumri, daily preaches against Armenia’s independence,” Rubinyan wrote. “But this is not surprising: this is precisely why his masters and their masters put him in this position.”

He went on to say that “all forces fighting against Armenia’s independence should be sent to hell in 2026,” adding that “those who abuse the expression ‘son of a bitch’ (շան տղա) should probably be muzzled.”

By Tamilla Hasanova