Why the President and the Catholicos Did Not Attend the Swearing-in of the Yerevan Mayor

The newspaper "Iravunk" writes: "While the entire nation was preparing to welcome the New Year, the Yerevan Council hastily expressed no confidence in Hayk Marutyan and, on behalf of the people of Yerevan, elected a new mayor in the person of Hrachya Sargsyan. Since the proceedings were carried out with such success behind the people's back, as per the established legal procedure, the swearing-in ceremony of the new mayor was organized on the third calendar day after his election.

Despite the fact that according to the law, the session dedicated to the swearing-in ceremony should have been presided over by the oldest member of the Yerevan Council, Lyudmila Sargsyan, a member of the "Prosperous Armenia" faction, yielded her place to Marat Tokhyan, a member of the "My Step" faction who is five months younger.

However, this was not the most significant aspect of the ceremony that remained in the background amidst the New Year festivities. Present at the swearing-in ceremony were Nikol Pashinyan, the Chairman of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan, representatives of the executive and legislative branches, even Stepanakert's Mayor David Sargsyan, whereas the President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, the Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians, His Holiness Garegin II, and the Vicar of the Ararat Patriarchal Diocese, His Eminence Bishop Navasard Kchoyan, were absent. Not to mention the former mayors of Yerevan.

Regarding why the Yerevan mayor decided to swear in without the blessing of spiritual leaders and the presence of the head of state, which has never happened before, the Yerevan Municipality's Information and Public Relations Department informed "Iravunk" in response to an inquiry that both President Armen Sarkissian and His Holiness Garegin II were invited to Hrachya Sargsyan's swearing-in ceremony: "However, they indicated that, for certain reasons, they would not be able to attend. It was not possible to send invitations to the former mayors of Yerevan due to a tight schedule."

As for the nature of the invitation and the reasons for the absence of President Armen Sarkissian, we clarified with the Public Relations Department of the President's Office: "President Armen Sarkissian received an invitation to the swearing-in ceremony for the newly elected Mayor of Yerevan the day before, after the end of the working day, in the evening. He did not attend the ceremony as he had pre-planned meetings." We also inquired with the Information System of the Mother See to find out the reasons for His Holiness’s absence, but they promised to respond only after the Christmas festivities. Regarding Bishop Navasard, the Information Department of the Ararat Patriarchal Diocese informed us that the Vicar had not even received an invitation and was unaware of the ceremony."