Avinyan to be Replaced Indefinitely by First Deputy Mayor: 'Hraparak'

'Hraparak' newspaper writes: 'The routine dispatch meeting of the Yerevan City Hall, which is held every Monday, did not take place yesterday. The staff was not given a valid explanation for the reasons behind this. Moreover, it has been announced that Deputy Mayor Armen Pambukhchyan will replace Avinyan indefinitely, which means that official correspondences should now be addressed to Pambukhchyan. Such a situation typically occurs when the mayor is on vacation, but Avinyan has not taken any leave.

The spokesperson for the city hall stated: 'Since there are supervisory officers over various departments and their deadlines expire this week, a decision was made to hold the meeting next Monday to get a complete picture.' By this logic, the National Assembly and the government could also skip their next sessions and clarify that all proposals will be collected and discussed in one day. And will the dispatch meeting next Monday be chaired by Tigran Avinyan? 'The dispatch meetings are always chaired by the mayor; at this time, there is no information that Armen Pambukhchyan will lead it. Perhaps that would be the case if the mayor were on vacation or on a business trip.'

The cancellation of the meeting and the replacement of Avinyan with Pambukhchyan are notable in the context of the not-so-smooth relationship between the prime minister and the mayor. It is possible that there is no intrigue at all, but on the other hand, this may be another step to neutralize Avinyan, formally appointing the first deputy mayor as the de facto mayor.'