Opposition bloc opts out of Yerevan municipal council meeting

The opposition Mother Armenian alliance will skip the inaugural meeting of Yerevan’s newly-elected municipal assembly slated for Tuesday 10 October.

In a statement on Monday, the bloc cited a lack of consensus on a joint mayoral candidate of the opposition forces that won seats in the Yerevan City Council in the mid-September elections.

According to the results of the September 17 elections, the National Progress party led by former Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan, the Mother Armenia bloc led by former opposition MP Andranik Tevanyan and the Public Voice party of U.S.-based blogger Vartan Ghukasyan will control a combined 33 seats in the 65-member municipal council empowered to appoint the next mayor of the Armenian capital.

Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party gained 24 seats, while the Republic Party won 8 seats in the municipal assembly.

“The Mother Armenia bloc urges the other opposition forces to boycott the meeting as well to prevent Civil Contract from regaining the lead in the capital and to pave the way for fresh Yerevan elections,” reads the statement.