Election of Mayor of Gyumri

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan, exclusive to VK

On July 21, the Mayor of Gyumri, the second largest city in Armenia, the member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Vardan Ghukasyan declared his resignation from the position of the head of the Shirak Regional Authority of the RPA. According to official sources, Ghukasyan wrote a letter of resignation on his own. The mayor explained his decision by saying that he was "a non-party man by nature, and rather spiritually minded," and that he wanted to take a little break from politics.

This action became a surprise in anticipation of the election of the Mayor of Gyumri, scheduled for September 9. The withdrawal from the post of head of the regional authority of the party means that Vartan Ghukasian is not nominating a candidate in the upcoming mayoral election. However, a few weeks ago, Ghukasian confidently declared his intention to participate in the upcoming elections. As for his probable participation in the elections without the support of the Republican Party, Ghukasian said: "Time will tell."

The representatives of the Republican Party do not see anything special, either in the fact that Ghukasyan has decided not to continue to head the regional structure of the Republican Party, nor even that he will no longer run for mayor. Nevertheless, it is obvious that the actual and gradual removal from office of a man who called himself "the leader of Gyumri" for 12 years could not happen without serious reason. "The situation around the upcoming elections of the mayor of Gyumri is more dangerous and serious than it seems to be," the deputy chairman of the opposition party "Free Democrats" Anush Sedrakyan believes.

According to several sources, just before his retirement Ghukasian visited the residence of President Serzh Sargsyan, who recommended to the mayor of Gyumri to take a break from politics. Knowing Armenian reality, it is possible to make an unambiguous conclusion that the member of the Council of the Republican Party, who has headed the Gyumri city administration for12 years, is drawing away.

It is possible that one of the main reasons for the change in the approach of the Republican Party was the eccentric temper of Vardan Ghukasian. "God will not forgive those who will go against me. I am the leader of this city, and those who will go against me will become prey to Satan," the Mayor of Gyumri says. The manifestation of the temper of the leader of the city was an incident in one of the cafes of Gyumri, where Ghukasian began shooting. Several years ago, his son Spartak and his nephew participated in a shootout with the son of one of the officials of Gyumri in one of the main streets of the city. Just a couple of days ago, Spartak Ghukasyan, after participating in the wedding ceremony, started a fire in different parts of the city. On May 6, at the parliamentary elections, Spartak kidnapped the operator of "Kentron", Varazdat Papikyan, from one of the polling stations.

The members of the RPA, who turned a blind eye to the "exploits" of their fellow party-member and his family over the years, suddenly hardened their position for some reason. The reason voiced by the vice-chairman of the party, Galust Sahakyan, is the following one: "Vartan Ghukasian was a good mayor, but the Republican Party would not support him at the mayoral election on September 9. At the parliamentary elections in Gyumri, we scored significantly fewer votes than expected. This situation is being analyzed, because if you're in politics, defeat, failure or ineffectiveness often cannot be forgiven."

It should be noted that the RPA gained about 15,000 votes in Gyumri, while the party of "Prosperous Armenia" scored about 27 thousand. The PPA has decided to nominate Samvel Balasanyan for the mayoral position. Balasanyan, the MP from the PPA, is the owner of a brewery in Gyumri. Experts do not rule out that the Republican Party could support the representative of the PPA. Although this decision is not official, the members of the ruling party discuss the form in which it is possible to present this solution - nominating Balasanyan as a candidate, or just speaking in support of the candidate of the PPA.

"The RPA approves the candidacy of the representative of "Prosperous Armenia", Samvel Balasanyan, for Mayor of Gyumri; he will get wide support among the population of Gyumri. The RPA has a lot of worthy candidates, but we have repeatedly said that the elections of local self-government are important to us, but in this matter we are guided not by the principles of party affiliation, but by the factor of the support of the people," Sahakyan says. Some observers believe that there is already a consensus concerning the candidacy of Balasanyan. On the eve of the presidential election the Republican Party is not interested in any "hotbeds of social tension" like Gyumri at the moment. On the eve of the presidential election, the authorities are interested in shaping a peaceful atmosphere of tolerance in the country.

Other political forces (in particular the opposition parties, such as "Dashnaktsutiun", the Armenian National Congress and "Heritage") have not yet expressed their attitude toward the candidacy of Balasanyan. There is no clarity on the question of their participation in the election for the mayor of Gyumri. The situation will become clearer when the official procedure for the nomination of candidates for Mayor of Gyumri will start, that is, on August 5.