Armenia's Parakar to elect new mayor on Tuesday

Parakar, a community in Armenia’s Armavir Province, will elect a new leader on Tuesday following the September 23 murder of its Mayor Valodya Grigoryan.

Mesrop Arakelyan, co-founder of the Country to Live party, told Panorama.am on Monday that his faction will nominate council member Onik Hakhverdyan for the post.

“We hold the majority in the municipal council. Onik Hakhverdyan will be elected and we will continue the unfinished work of Valodya Grigoryan,” Arakelyan said.

At the same time, he did not rule out possible interference. “Anything can be expected from the authorities. But at this stage we have no concerns and our team is poised to elect a new mayor,” Arakelyan added.

Asked about other possible contenders, Arakelyan noted that rival factions could nominate candidates before the vote.

Grigoryan had been elected mayor on March 30, heading the Unity alliance of the Country to Live and Victory parties, which secured 57% of the vote (6,508 ballots).