VIDEO: "He ran away, he knows how he ran away": Avinyan on Marutyan

Some individuals and parties have accused us of holding municipal elections, and my statement yesterday was that if they want political speeches, we can provide those as well. This was mentioned today, September 4, during a press conversation with journalists by the Deputy Mayor of Yerevan and city mayoral candidate from the CP, Tigran Avinyan.

"I don’t think political speeches are of much interest to Yerevan residents at this time. However, these are political elections and have political content. When we say that we are building 24 kindergartens in Yerevan, dozens of football fields, sports schools, and more than 200 yards, that has a political content," said Avinyan.

According to him, all the forces that divert from this real political logic speak about everything except their actions and plans: "I get the impression that they have nothing to say about the development of Yerevan; they do not have a program. What you say should be supported by a concrete plan for its implementation. When they present fantastical and fairy-tale genre plans, that too brings a smile because there should be a realistic financial assessment underlying all of that. That is not a program," claimed the ruling candidate.

Referring to the opinion that the foundation for the development of public transport was laid by former mayor Hayk Marutyan, and that he is now capitalizing on it, Avinyan stated, "Those who capitalize have capitalized and continue to capitalize. In 2017, when we were traveling around the streets of Yerevan and saying we would free you from the hopeless marshrutkas, that was the program of the 'Yelk' alliance, which later became the program of 'My Step' alliance in 2018, implemented by the 'My Step' alliance with the support of the government, myself, other deputy prime ministers, ministers, and the Yerevan City Council. As for the last 1.5 years, if it concerns a specific candidate, I am waiting for the debate, then we will discuss it," he added.

When asked if there is currently a remote debate happening between him and Hayk Marutyan, as harsh words are being exchanged from both sides, does this mean that his main competitor is Marutyan, Avinyan responded negatively. "No, I do not consider anyone a competitor. I am confident that on September 17, the residents of Yerevan will choose for the future of Yerevan and our children. People see that their yard, their process is being improved, while some forces think that they do not need this; they need chaos. Yes, those who pour water into the mill of that chaos can consider me their political opponent. I do not debate with individuals. If someone is not politically mature enough to read political subtexts intelligently, that is a problem within themselves. All possible justifications can be searched for, but when everyone is bad and you are the only good one, there is a deep problem with your character there," he stated.

Avinyan also referred to his statement regarding Hayk Marutyan, saying that "after the war, he saw our situation was a bit shaky and ran away." He stated, "Yes, he ran away. Specifically after the war, when some hooligans entered the government building and the parliament, I was busy preventing all that so that anti-democratic forces, hooligans would not take control of this country and that none could take our rights from the 2018 revolution—the right to have democratic and free elections. As for who was scared in that process, I don’t know where their heart ran; they know how they ran. When the time comes, we will speak about that too."