Candidate for Mayor of Artik Distributed Bonuses in November; Law Enforcement Should Investigate - "Zhoghovurd"

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" reports: "Calls coming from the enlarged community of Artik continue to surprise. In a situation of total lawlessness, the candidates are doing whatever they want. Yesterday, we received a report that the current mayor of Artik, Mkhitar Varagyan, who now wishes to lead the enlarged Artik community with similar 'glory' as before, under the 'Unified Artik' alliance, decided in the second week of November to distribute bonuses to budgetary employees formed from the residents' payments to the community’s budget.

This step, clearly aimed at pre-election purposes, not only mocks the community employees and the meager budget of the city but also violates one of the key principles of the electoral process: the principle of equality. Everyone knows Varagyan’s political past; he is a former member of the Republican Party of Armenia, a former MP who has never made a speech in the National Assembly, let alone have a program or vision.

By the way, we received information that under Varagyan, bonuses have been distributed in the past, only to be gathered back in some way, and it is unclear what will happen this time.

Such information compelled us to investigate the biographies of some members of the council led by Varagyan. Initially, our sources pointed out that it is striking that a considerable number of social service workers are included in Varagyan's list, who are associated with enriching themselves through the pensions and benefits of the people, including individuals like Mushegh Mkrtchyan and Mesrop Varagyan, whose wife faced criminal charges related to financial abuses in the same sector and was subsequently dismissed. Also included on the list is Artak Chopykyan from the same system.

Additionally, our sources claim that from Varagyan's list, individuals like Voskanyan Vardanyan and Armen Nikoghosyan (nickname: Kuku) have received community-owned lands from Varagyan, still acting as mayor, for mining activities, not under their own names but rather under those of associated individuals.

Our sources at "Zhoghovurd" assert that the law enforcement system will be conducting raids in Artik; however, it was unclear what cases would be addressed, though they promised that the situation would be quite heated.

In one of our previous articles about Artik, we mentioned that nothing has been done here for 30 years, and the city has begun to take on a miserable appearance. Yet, the responsible authorities of that period, rather than facing punishment or at least feeling ashamed to look their fellow citizens in the eyes, are not only candidates but can also look into the eyes of children and their parents who are forced to walk through puddles to reach their schools and kindergartens. Perhaps the culprits are the voters themselves.

For more details, refer to today’s issue of the newspaper.