Opposition candidate elected mayor of Gyumri amid ruling party boycott

By Alexander Pracht

Vardan Ghukasyan, a mayoral candidate nominated by the Armenian Communist Party, was elected mayor of Gyumri on Wednesday, receiving the support of 18 out of 33 members of the newly elected city council. His appointment came during the council’s inaugural session, which was boycotted by the ruling Civil Contract party.

In a statement on social media, Civil Contract’s candidate Sarik Minasyan, who led the March 30 municipal election with 37% of the vote, accused rival political forces of “stealing the votes of Gyumri residents” and handing them over to others. “We will not participate in a process where decisions are dictated by others’ calculations,” Minasyan wrote, warning that the city is headed for a political crisis. He also called for new municipal elections.

None of the parties won an outright majority in the March vote, which prompted negotiations among those that crossed the electoral threshold. Ghukasyan’s bloc that won 20.7% of the vote received backing from the Mother Armenia, My Strong Community, and Our City alliances, paving the way for his confirmation as mayor.

Civil Contract, which leads the national government, had hoped to take control of Armenia’s second-largest city through its candidate Minasyan, but failed to form a coalition.

Ghukasyan was previously mayor of Gyumri from 1999 to 2012 as a member of the formerly ruling Republican Party. His confirmation as mayor comes amid an ongoing criminal investigation against him. According to the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office, he is suspected of coercion related to political gatherings. The proceedings are based on an audio recording in which Ghukasyan is allegedly heard instructing someone to gather market vendors and reminding them of favors he had extended during his previous tenure as mayor. The recording includes foul language and implies he expects political support in return. Ghukasyan has not denied the recording outright but has hinted it may have been artificially generated.