Masis Mayor: Candidates are being pressured to withdraw from the list or face dismissal

The Mayor of Masis, and a candidate for the head of the enlarged Masis community in the upcoming local elections, Davit Hambardzumyan, confirmed in an interview with 24news.am the reports circulating in the press regarding the pressures being exerted on individuals included in his council list.

“Yes, there are such cases. Calls are being made to our candidates who are included in the council list, and they are simply told: either withdraw from the list or you will be dismissed from your job,” said Hambardzumyan.

He expressed the opinion that such tactics will not yield results. “Our citizens are smart; you cannot force them to vote in a certain way or lead them to the elections against their will,” noted the Mayor of Masis.

When asked where the pressures are coming from, Hambardzumyan replied that there have been several calls from the regional administration. “They are trying to intimidate people so that they do not support me and vote for their candidate. They are attempting through intimidation, but I am confident they will not succeed,” he stated.

Davit Hambardzumyan also revealed that some village mayors have been included in the ruling party's lists for a specific reason. “I consider this an application of administrative resources, because most of the village mayors tell me that there are criminal cases opened against us, and we cannot avoid being included in those lists. I do not know whether this is a threat or a means of persuasion, but such a thing exists,” said Hambardzumyan.