‘No Movement Can Start After Removing Marutyan from Office’ - Vahram Tokmajyan

Historian Vahram Tokmajyan shared on Facebook:

“If we disregard the posts of Hayk Marutyan's supporters and the unsuccessful media campaign of the ruling Civil Contract Party (CPP), we can note the following:

• Yerevan has half, if not more, of Armenia's population. Who doesn’t know that the mayor of Yerevan is a political position? And if it is a political office, then regardless of the mayor’s good or bad performance, he cannot not be a member of the ruling political team.
• The CPP is slowly becoming a party. However, not in the political science sense of the concept, but rather in an Armenian perception (leader-follower).
• Despite having sufficient resources, CPP cannot organize a media campaign; or it organizes it in such a clumsy manner that it even elicits a chuckle from a beginner media strategist.
• The good work of Hayk Marutyan could have generated the government’s image around him. Why this was not done, I do not know. Why such behavior, I also cannot explain, just as I cannot explain Brownian movement.
• No movement can start after the removal of Hayk Marutyan from the mayor's position. Even ten percent of those writing supportive statuses will not go out onto the street. In this cold, a person barely waits for an hour, an hour and a half for their loved one, let alone go out for a political action.
• Hayk Marutyan will not be able to lead any political movement in the future, as he is not political in nature, lacks a political voice, thought, etc. Of course, he can strengthen any party, like the current Human Rights Defender, if he decides to engage in politics, but not more than that.
• The CPP will try to ‘seize’ local self-government with all possible methods. This is evidence that the ruling team cannot bring content to the field; the alternative being administrative and other methods, as much as they can manage.
• Could they have been more reserved? Of course, it was possible. The CPP could have said directly and openly: since Hayk Marutyan is no longer a member of the political team, and the position of the mayor of Yerevan is political, then he must leave. This way, they would save both your nerves and avoid putting their supporters in a ridiculous, and in some cases, disgusting situation.
• The media forces you to gather many files, but have a short memory.”