The Authorities Demonstrated How They Use the People’s Money: Marutyan

Both the citizens and we are confident that the city authorities will gather their wits and understand that their decision is directed against the people. This statement was made by former Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan during an interview with reporters at the protest against the increase in transportation prices.

“Today we have gathered precisely to hear from the citizens about how they envision the struggle. Naturally, we will talk about a boycott, but there are various forms of boycott. We need to understand which form of boycott we prefer; for instance, students could hold a class boycott, people can strike, and generally refrain from using public transportation, meaning they would go to work but avoid using public transport, hopping on transportation, paying 100 dram, and getting ahead. The same methods were applied back in 2013. I am confident that if people widely boycott, the city authorities will have no alternative but to resort to the 'Taron jan, this is not nice' option,” he stated.

“First of all, I want to inform you that we have already presented a project whereby all the packages offered by the municipality will be retained, and an additional point is added: that one ride will cost 100 dram, which is literally what will happen in January. This means you can benefit from all the packages, and there’s the one-ride option at 100 dram. However, as we can see, the vast majority of the population is using the one-ride option at 100 dram. If it's appealing, people will buy these packages, won’t they? They had this project, and they could have presented it at the meeting of the city council that took place at the end of the year, despite the fact that they were legally obliged to do so,” noted Hayk Marutyan.

He also referred to his debate with Tigran Avinyan. “Both during and after the debate, the true face of our government became evident. They demonstrated how they use the money given to them by the people. After all, they say there’s no money, and we need it to ensure transportation; however, we see that they are using that money for their whims,” said Hayk Marutyan.