Ruben Mkhitaryan says ready to back fellow opposition mayoral candidate in Gyumri

Ruben Mkhitaryan, who led the My Strong Community party list in Sunday’s municipal elections in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, has announced his readiness to support fellow opposition mayoral candidate Vardan Ghukasyan, whose team finished second in the elections. 

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party fell short of an absolute majority despite winning most of the votes in the Gyumri elections. The Central Electoral Commission said on Monday morning that with nearly all ballots counted, Civil Contract received 16,938 votes. 

The opposition Armenian Communist Party led by Vardan Ghukasyan finished second with 9,537 votes, followed by the Our City bloc with 7,296 votes. Two other opposition groups, the My Strong Community party and the Mother Armenia bloc, also secured seats in the Gyumri City Council, winning 3,659 and 2,844 votes, respectively.

In a statement released on Monday, Mkhitaryan expressed gratitude to the Gyumri residents who voted for his party.

"As the mayoral candidate of the My Strong Community party in the Gyumri City Council elections, I stand ready, along with our council members, to vote for the opposition mayoral candidate who received the most votes in Gyumri – Vardan Ghukasyan – without any preconditions or demands for office. When I decided to run for mayor, I made a promise: if I did not win, I would support the opposition candidate with the highest number of votes," Mkhitaryan said.

"I’m glad I played a role in ensuring that the disastrous ruling party couldn’t prevail in Gyumri. I believe their downfall has already begun," he added.