“If something happened to me, I would have been taken away 100 times by now”: The head of the Tegh community will not participate in the elections

On October 17, elections for the members of the council will be held in the enlarged Tegh community of Syunik Province, where the community leader will also be elected. The current community head, Nerses Shadunts, has decided not to participate in the elections, despite having a relatively high rating among community members.

In an interview with Hraparak.am, Nerses Shadunts explained his decision not to run, citing family burdens. He candidly stated, “I generally don’t like elections, and the main reason I am not running is to not pit our people against each other, especially since this has deepened now; family members, relatives, and friends have turned against each other. I consider my mission accomplished; I came for five years, and we implemented over 90% of the five-year development program. Although there are donor organizations that are now hesitant about continuing their cooperation after my departure, I will still be consistent in ensuring that certain projects reach completion.”

It is no secret that the government is trying to “take over” Syunik with new elections, and in all communities, the ruling “Civil Contract” party has its candidate. According to our information, Davit Dolunts, the nephew of Syunik Governor Melikset Poghosyan and a fellow villager of Shadunts, is set to be nominated in Tegh. We asked Shadunts whether his decision not to run again was related to this. “Nothing can influence me; if something happened to me, I would have been taken away 100 times by now,” Shadunts said, emphasizing that he has no intentions of leaving the community after stepping down from his position: “Where would I find a better place to live than here?” According to the head of the Tegh community, the situation within the community has been relatively calm recently, and there is a certain restraint from the opposing side.