The elections in Gyumri are poised to turn into a life-and-death struggle.
The point is that the “Balasanyan Alliance”, which had won the majority after the previous elections, suddenly decided to give up its mandates, after which a governance crisis began in Gyumri. Nikol Pashinyan, taking advantage of the situation, appointed Sarik Minasyan, a member of the Communist Party of Armenia, as mayor. A number of figures have already announced their participation in the elections, and it is expected that many more will announce their participation in the near future, but the names already published suggest that there will be a fierce competition.
As is known, the former mayor of Gyumri, Vardan Ghukasyan, has already announced his candidacy. Vardan Ghukasyan was elected three times from 1999 to 2008 and headed the city of Gyumri.
From 2004 to 2008, he was a member of the Standing Committee of Local Self-Government under the President of the Republic of Armenia.
On April 2, 2017, he was elected as a deputy of the National Assembly from the territorial electoral list of the Tsarukyan Party Alliance No. 11. On December 9, 2018, he was elected as a deputy from the Prosperous Armenia Party list. During the 2018 change of power, Vardan Ghukasyan suddenly sided with Nikol Pashinyan. In one of the videos, he urged journalists to "take a step, reject Serzh."
Although Ghukasyan once sided with Pashinyan, this did not exempt him from criminal prosecution.Ghukasyan is charged with criminal misappropriation of numerous state or community properties.
Sarik Minasyan, appointed by the CP as the Acting Mayor, will be the first number on the CP's electoral list.
Minasyan was elected as a deputy of the RA NA in 2018 on the territorial electoral list of the Bright Armenia Party. From July 8, 2022 to December 13, 2024, he held the position of Director of the Gyumri Regional Center of the RA Unified Social Service. On December 8, 9, 10, 2024, he participated in the primaries organized by the "Civil Contract" party in Gyumri, and was elected as the Acting Mayor of Gyumri.
MP Martun Grigoryan has announced that he will most likely lead the Hayrenik party's electoral list.
Grigoryan first received his parliamentary mandate in 2007, and was once a member of the Prosperous Armenia and Republican factions. The forces of Andranik Tevanyan and Suren Surenyants have also announced their participation, although it is not yet known who the mayoral candidates will be. Yesterday it became known that producer Ruben Mkhitaryan has decided to enter the electoral race with interesting teammates.
Ruben Mkhitaryan has been the chief producer of Armenia Number for many years, which belongs to the former Armenian Ambassador to the Vatican, Serzh Sargsyan's son-in-law Mikael Minasyan, and the famous media producer Artur Janibekyan. Mkhitaryan is known to the public for founding the Hayat Project group, as well as for his fierce criticism of Nikol Pashinyan.
According to Euromedia 24, Karen Petrosyan, director of the Gyumri branch of the University of Economics, will also participate in the elections.who also has real votes in Gyumri.
Petrosyan was one of the leaders of anti-government actions in Shirak province during the 2018 change of power, he was also a member of the “New Armenia, New Patriarch” movement, which demanded the resignation of the Catholicos.
One of Karen Petrosyan’s teammates, Tigran Petrosyan, was appointed governor of Shirak province in 2019 after the change of power, but a year later, he resigned due to “not getting along” with the authorities.
