The Only Option for Concession is to Lock Me in Prison, I Have Nothing to Concede. This City Is Not up for Auction, Not an Object of Concession - Mayoral Candidate Mamikon Aslanyan

Speaking to reporters after participating in the voting in Vanadzor on December 5, mayoral candidate and former mayor Mamikon Aslanyan stated, "I will talk about pressures and intimidation later, based on the safety of certain individuals. Some of my team members have even been removed from the lists under pressure to face criminal responsibility. I will discuss this later."

He emphasized, "But our team is not afraid; the people of Vanadzor stand behind me. At this moment, I entirely exclude any collaboration with political forces purely from a political standpoint, because I did not enter this process for political reasons. Our focus is communal politics. Even if there are forces that are not participating in these elections, I have avenues for collaboration with them. During my time as mayor, no one was ever accepted or dismissed based on political affiliations."

Aslanyan added, "The only option for concession is to lock me in prison; I have nothing to concede to anyone. This city is not up for auction, it is not the subject of concessions, nor is it a matter of political party interests."

In response to a question about what he would do if he doesn't surpass 50 percent, Aslanyan confidently replied, "We will overcome it." According to Aslanyan, the claims that the city’s service vehicle ‘Kamaz’ is out of order are absurd, as the exact nature of the problem has not even been clarified. He stated, “It is a small technical issue that could have been quickly resolved instead of taking five days to talk about it.”

He further explained, "It is entirely normal for the third city to have only two vehicles, as these two vehicles can cover the entire city of Vanadzor in six hours."

Aslanyan criticized the rapid turnover in city administration, saying, "How is it that the position of kindergarten director is auctioned off at night, and by morning there is already a new director? The head of the polyclinic has not yet been removed, and they already know who they are appointing. Meanwhile, the head of the municipal department and their assistant are on vacation, and apparently, they didn’t consider that it might snow in the city, thus failing to resolve a technical issue with a Kamaz.”

It should be noted that Vanadzor is the third largest city in Armenia, with 10 political forces participating in the local self-government elections.