The "Hraparak" newspaper writes:
As we have reported, the local government elections expected in the fall have become a matter of life and death for Nikol Pashinyan and his government. Pashinyan is personally casting candidates, compiling lists of candidates for the council of elders and community leaders. The national elections have perhaps become a big lesson for Pashinyan; he has decided to strengthen his positions locally, find strong candidates, and place bets on them, aiming to win more votes from the communities in the next elections.
We have made many references to the pre-election processes, the pressure exerted by the government regime on the opposition, the proposed deals, etc. Nikol Pashinyan has decided to seize community power by all possible and impossible means, so he has instructed the most competitive candidates to do it themselves, wherever they do not have a viable candidate and they think that they will not succeed, even if they do not win with administrative levers, they have decided to go for enlargements again, adjusting the boundaries of the communities to their candidates or the resources they have, and in some cases, even postponing the elections. We were informed that two legislative bills have been urgently submitted to the National Assembly, which propose to unite the Vanadzor and Pambak communities into one community, which will become the second largest community after Yerevan. As well as to enlarge the Ararat and Vedi communities. With another amendment to the Local Government Law, they have decided to move the elections in these communities from this fall to the spring of next year.
The five-year terms of the current councils of elders of Vanadzor, Pambak, and Ararat expire this year, but if the amendments are adopted, the next elections will be held in 2027, which is a violation of the Electoral Code. The authorities, according to rumors, are unable to find suitable candidates in the mentioned communities. The problem is especially serious in Vanadzor, where in December 2021 the “Mamikon Aslanyan” bloc received 38.7 percent of the vote and 15 mandates, and the “Civil Agreement” received 25 percent and 9 mandates. The former mayor of Vanadzor, Mamikon Aslanyan, was arrested shortly after the elections, before the opposition forces could form a governing majority in the community. He was held in custody for more than two years, and Vanadzor is still governed by the acting mayor of the community, Akan Arkady Peleshyan. Aslanyan, who is currently a member of the "Strong Armenia" faction, denies the charges against him and considers the criminal prosecution against him to be political.
He also describes the process of merging his native Vanadzor with the neighboring Pambak community as purely political. By the way, the new community, which includes 22 settlements, will become the second largest community in Armenia after Yerevan in terms of population.
According to Mamikon Aslanyan, the previous enlargement process cannot even be considered complete, because the current council of elders, for known reasons, did not fulfill its powers, especially the planned enlargement, which, according to Aslanyan, does not stem from the interests of the community, but from political goals. “Probably, they hope to secure more votes for their candidate by merging the villages of Pambak,” he notes. As for his nomination, there is no decision yet. “I think that “Strong Armenia” will definitely participate, but taking into account the circumstances of my criminal case, there is no decision on my part yet,” he assured.
Let us recall that the government personnel bank in Vanadzor is in such a sad state that they decided to nominate Lori regional governor Aren Mkrtchyan here, who was removed from the Alaverdi registration months ago and registered in Vanadzor. The most striking thing about the presented legislative projects is that what oppositionist Pashinyan once criticized is now presented as advantages of the enlargement process, which will promote “the economic development of communities, increase social cohesion, make governance more efficient,” etc., etc.
More details in today’s issue of the newspaper
