Will Diana Gasparyan Be Dismissed? – Hraparak

According to the newspaper "Hraparak," rumors have been circulating for some time in Ejmiadzin regarding the dismissal of community leader Diana Gasparyan. Although our source in the municipality did not confirm the validity of these rumors, they also did not deny them. According to them, Gasparyan's lack of trust from her superiors dates back to 2021 when a recording of her phone conversation with Suren Papikyan surfaced online. "But since there were no suitable candidates to replace Gasparyan at that time, and because the incident could have undermined the reputation of the ruling party, they let it slide. After that, to think that Gasparyan could easily digest what happened would be naive," said a municipality employee.

While still grappling with the fallout from the leaked recording, connections between Diana Gasparyan and former member of the Ejmiadzin council Aram Mirzoyan also came to light. Although the couple is now married and is expecting a child, the ruling party elite, who view Diana as a source of various games, did not look favorably upon this union. Her young husband is a close friend of the sons of the late Manvel Grigoryan, one of whom, Arman, was chosen to be the godfather at their wedding. It is said that Diana has effectively handed the reins of the city over to her husband, who has a direct influence on important decision-making, which is also not appreciated by the Ejmiadzin members of the ruling party.

“Of course, this did not sit well with Pashinyan and his team. To my knowledge, the ruling party members discussed replacing Gasparyan’s sponsor, and I think Arman did not even play that role at the wedding. The talks of her dismissal have been circulating since then. But I wouldn't say they'll fire Gasparyan; she might just go on a long vacation and never return. After all, she wanted to resign back in 2021, didn't she? She had mentioned it to Papikyan during their infamous phone call," said our source.

As for why rumors about Diana Gasparyan's dismissal are emerging now, in the opinion of my interlocutor, the ruling party has found a worthy replacement. The proposed replacement is none other than Arsen Petrosyan, Diana Gasparyan's deputy. This Arsen, who does not even have a secondary education, has already been serving as deputy mayor for five years. Interestingly, he received this position directly from Nikol Pashinyan, right after leaving his taxi driving job.

Arsen Petrosyan's patronage is now engaged in the task of educating this inexperienced official. Recently, Arsen also traveled to Sweden with officials from different regions to participate in the "Support for Decentralization and Local Governance Reforms in Armenia" program funded by SALAR, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions. Unlike Diana, Arsen is easily manageable; he adapts quickly to his surroundings, has no solid principles, and has no problem following orders. In other words, he is the ideal candidate for the community leader role for the "Civil Contract" party.