By Mark Dovich
Tigran Avinyan, a close ally of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, will continue leading Armenia’s capital even after his Civil Contract party lost its majority on Yerevan’s city council.
Meeting Tuesday for the first time since last month’s inconclusive municipal elections, councilors voted Tuesday 32-5 to select Avinyan to lead the city for another five years. Avinyan had served as acting mayor since March.
The vote came down along party lines, with all 32 ‘yes’ votes coming from Civil Contract and the Republic Party, its coalition partner, and all 5 ‘no’ votes coming from the Public Voice party, which is linked to Vardan Ghukasyan, a controversial blogger more widely known by the nickname Dog.
The National Progress party, which is led by former Mayor Hayk Marutyan, and the Mother Armenia bloc, which is supported by ex-President Robert Kocharyan, boycotted the vote but were not able to prevent Avinyan’s selection.
It marks a major political victory for Pashinyan, who personally campaigned for Avinyan in the run-up to the vote.
What happened at the polls?
Civil Contract lost its majority on Yerevan’s city council in municipal elections on September 17, even while securing the highest vote share of any single party, at about 33%.
Because no one party was able to secure an outright majority, it was not immediately clear who would become Yerevan’s next mayor.
Armenians do not directly elect their mayors. Rather, voters indicate their preferred political party, with council seats distributed proportionally with parties’ vote shares. After the votes are tallied and the new city government convened, councilors select a new mayor from among themselves.
Despite low turnout and “the misuse of administrative resources by the ruling party,” the elections were “generally considered free and fair, with no major systemic violations observed,” said the European Platform for Democratic Elections, a poll monitoring group.
Fewer than three in 10 eligible voters cast ballots, the lowest figure Yerevan has ever recorded.
