Nikol Pashinyan Prepares to Make the Impossible Happen by Appointing His Godfather Hayk Ghalumyan as Mayor of Ijevan

The newspaper '168 Hours' reports that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is preparing to make the impossible happen, solely to appoint his close friend and family godfather Hayk Ghalumyan as the mayor of Ijevan, endowed with all the powers of the governor.

Recently, a draft presented in the National Assembly indicates that the ruling party plans to turn Ijevan into a hegemonic community, uniting it with 19 communities from Tavush, and after the mayoral elections in Ijevan scheduled for March 15, 2020, the centralized administration of these communities, which will have become a mini-governorate, will be given to Pashinyan's friend Hayk Ghalumyan, thanks to their godfather-son relationship.

However, the consolidation of communities in Ijevan is not the only strategic step being taken to satisfy the political ambitions of the Prime Minister's godfather. It turns out that various scenarios for organizing the Ijevan elections based on the model of Yerevan are currently being discussed within the ruling party. The government leans towards establishing a specific law for Ijevan, similar to the 'Law on Local Self-Government in Yerevan,' adopted years ago, so that local governance can also be implemented in the same localized manner allowed for the Yerevan municipality.

This means that local elections in Ijevan will be conducted differently, with parliamentary elections announced for political parties. Consequently, the mayor will be the individual who occupies the leading position in the winning party.

Logically, the government has several serious reasons for adopting this approach — to prevent weakening its power, it feels compelled to revive the revolutionary euphoria starting from native Ijevan, where the internal tension across Tavush has not died down since the infamous deforestation operation, especially considering that the criminal case has not been closed following the release of 19 individuals jailed after the clashes, and the investigation continues while communities are being consolidated, complicating the lives of the people in Tavush.

The authorities believe that this way they can win the hearts of Ijevan residents and restore their trust. Amid these sentiments, the government has no time to wait; dividends are needed. Perhaps that is why the Prime Minister's nephew, MP Sipan Pashinyan, has moved to Ijevan, replacing street lamps and personally operating a road roller with the financial means of some unknown benefactor (the name remains undisclosed since, according to some opinions, state resources are actually being used).

For more details, see the newspaper's current issue.