Do the US and EU ambassadors not know where Gyumri is?

What is happening in Gyumri cannot be called anything other than lawlessness. It should be recalled that Mayor Vardges Samsonyan, who represented the Balasanyan bloc, resigned on October 28. Together with him, 13 members of the City Council stepped down. All this happened as a criminal case against Samvel Balasanyan, the founder of the bloc and the former mayor of Gyumri, who is accused of illegally alienating land around the “Black Fortress”, was opened. Logically, and most importantly, according to the law, new elections to the City Council should have been held in Gyumri. However, logic and the situation with the phone of MP Hovik Aghazaryan that ended up in the hands of Nikol Pashinyan show that the law is a relative concept in Armenia.

After the collapse in the City Council, which, according to Karen Sarukhanyan, a member of the Civil Contract, was caused by the actions of the authorities, which he allegedly did not support, Pashinyan announced his intention to hold an inner party vote to elect the acting mayor of Gyumri—the first such process in the history of the country. The vote will be held among members or associates of the Civil Contract party.

Then, a vote will be held among the residents of Gyumri. Only after that, the acting mayor of the city will be appointed. According to Pashinyan, Karen Sarukhanyan, Levon Ananyan, David Arushanyan, Shavarsh Aramyan, Emma Barseghyan, Sarik Minasyan, and Vahagn Mkrtchyan will participate in the vote. He also said that the preliminary voting will take place on December 8, 9, and 10.

If you find a mechanism for intraparty primaries in the Armenian legislation, let us know. Experts believe that Pashinyan does not go to the elections for the Gyumri City Council, since with failed results in the former Leninakan, it will be more difficult for the Civil Contract party to go to the elections for the National Assembly in 2026.

The “revolutionary leader” does not want elections in the second city of the country because he knows his real rating. However, Pashinyan would like not to hold elections not only in Gyumri but also in the country as a whole.

Pashinyan and the Civil Contract party would not mind that the 2021 elections would be the last elections in Armenia. Moreover, they are the “last” both in the scenario of usurpation of power (including through changes to the Electoral Code) and in the scenario in which there will be nowhere to hold elections in 2026… (“Either I will be prime minister, or Armenia will not have a prime minister at all”—always keep this formula in mind).

In addition to this illegal process, there was also a statement by Alen Simonyan, the President of the National Assembly, who announced the holding of new elections in Gyumri, which, according to preliminary data, will be held in the spring of 2025. Let’s say the authorities decide to respect the law and hold elections; this will be a good test for political forces who say 24/7 that the opposition should hand over mandates and leave the National Assembly, “paving the way for the young people.” Take part in the elections, defeat both the authorities and the opposition, and, following Nikol’s example, start your path to power from Gyumri.

This situation has another specific feature: National Assembly President Alen Simonyan said he was ready to solve the “issue of gasoline for the opposition” so that it would go to Jermuk. From the context of the statement, it was clear that in Jermuk the opposition had to resolve the issue with the occupied territories on its own.

In the logic of the NA President, it can be proposed to resolve fuel issues for the EU and US ambassadors to Armenia, who do not notice what is happening in Gyumri.

Could it be that Vassilis Maragos and Kristina Kvien do not know that Gyumri is “still” a part of Armenia? It is part of the democracy that they support and of the “democracy” that does not allow people on the ground to choose their own power.

Think about it…