Mamikon Aslanyan is Free, but Vanadzor Still Lacks a Mayor

Despite the fact that the procedure for holding a session to elect a mayor for Vanadzor has been canceled for over a year, a session of the city council has not been convened. Vahe Dokhoyan, a member of the council representing the 'Fatherland' faction, stated in an interview with 'Factinfo' that he continues to assert that the decision to appoint the mayor of Vanadzor was also illegal.

“The Prime Minister made an arbitrary decision, with the help of 'Bright Armenia', to put pressure on the council by blocking the convening of a session, and for that reason, I believe that the 'Civil Contract' party expressed gratitude, but that role has ended, and now they have become opposition again. In any case, last September, the court said, ‘Go ahead, hold a session’. This means that for one year, the council should have convened a session to uphold constitutional order, but neither the mayor's office has initiated a session nor have the council factions,” he explained.

He emphasized that the ball is now in Mamikon Aslanyan's court, and it is up to him to decide what to do. “We will also decide how much we support him or whether we do not support him. We only have 2 mandates; we have no authority to initiate a session, nor will we have success if we present our own candidate. In the case of Mamikon Aslanyan, we have not been next to an individual, but next to a person who received the majority of Vanadzor residents’ votes. In this case, we have taken into account the opinion of the people of Vanadzor and defended Mamikon Aslanyan,” he noted.

It is noteworthy that on July 16, Mamikon Aslanyan, the former mayor of Vanadzor, was released after 2 years and 7 months in custody. After his release, he announced that he currently has no intention of engaging in politics.