FORMER YEREVAN DEPUTY MAYOR EXPLAINS WHY HE QUIT DISTRICT MAYORAL RACE
Armenpress
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, ARMENPRESS: Arman Sahakian, a former deputy Yerevan
mayor who first had defied his Republican Party’s ruling board’s order
to quit the campaign for the election of a Yerevan district mayor,
but then made a surprise decision to walk out of the struggle for
the post, told journalists today becoming a district mayor was not
an end in itself for him.
Arman Sahakian argued that he abandoned the mayoral race because
that was the decision of his Republican Party’s governing board. "I
regarded and regard the position of a district prefect as a platform
for implementation of community development projects. My refusal to run
for the post must not be transformed into a political show,’ he said.
His major rival, the current mayor Artsrun Khachatrian, who is believed
to enjoy the support of the chief prosecutor Aghvan Hovsepian, also
walked out of the campaign. Arman Sahakian, who is the son of Galust
Sahakian, the chairman of the Republican Party’s parliamentary faction,
said he wanted to become mayor to fight against what he said was ‘the
flagrant violation of urban construction norms in the district that has
been flourishing under the incumbent mayor’s rule.’ Four candidates
have been nominated for the position, one of them is Ruben Hovsepian,
chief prosecutor’s youngest brother. The election is scheduled for
October 29.