Let them not tell tales. The “My Step” has put the petty group interest above the interest of an entire community. Mayor Hayk Marutyan noted this in his remarks at Wednesday’s special session of the Yerevan Council of Elders—and with respect to the matter of the no-confidence motion against him.
"Today a process is taking place that has never taken place in the history of Yerevan. This is the first case of expressing no confidence in the mayor of Yerevan. It seems that in order to do such a thing, the initiators had to have very weighty arguments against the mayor. (…). [But] the reason presented is completely different. As the initiating party says, since I have left the [ruling] CC [Civil Contract] party, I must leave this position as well." Marutyan added.
He recalled that the first snap elections after the revolution in Armenia in April 2018 were held in the capital Yerevan, and the revolutionary team ran in this election in a bloc. Marutyan noted that out of the first 57 people elected via the "My Step" bloc to the Council of Elders, only 27 were members of the CC at that time.
Marutyan reminded that as a result of this election, 82% of the voters had cast their ballots for that team.
"I repeat: the people did not vote for any party; they voted for the bloc, the revolution, the revolutionary team, the leader of the revolution [serving PM] Nikol Pashinyan, Hayk Marutyan, the respected and well-known people included in the team, (…) who for years had dedicated themselves to the victory of the revolution," Marutyan said.
The mayor of Yerevan noted that today the process of expressing no confidence in him is based on his leaving the CC and the "My Step" bloc. He emphasized that he left the CC, but not the "My Step" bloc.
"Mentioning the name of the Civil Contract party in their arguments, these people are trying to privatize the revolution, they are trying to make the CC the only bearer and heir of revolutionary values. This is unacceptable for me and for thousands of non-partisan people like me, who carried out the revolution to have a better Armenia," Marutyan added.
As reported earlier, the Yerevan municipal council has convened a special session Wednesday—and with only one matter on the agenda: the draft decision of the Yerevan Council of Elders on expressing no confidence in Mayor Hayk Marutyan. Also, this draft proposes to elect Deputy Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan as the Mayor of Yerevan. The session is being chaired by Hayk Marutyan.
The ruling majority "My Step" Faction of the Yerevan Council of Elders had collected signatures to express no confidence in Marutyan. This initiative is supported also by the members of the opposition “Prosperous Armenia” Faction and Ani Khachatryan from the opposition “Luys” Faction.
But several members of the "My Step" Faction have opposed this initiative and resigned from the Yerevan city council.