Civil Contract opts out of inaugural Gyumri city council session, calls for new snap election

The Civil Contract party will not participate in the inaugural session of the new City Council of Gyumri on April 16, the party’s mayoral candidate Sarik Minasyan announced on Wednesday, calling for new snap elections. 

Addressing Gyumri residents, Minasyan said in a statement he valued the votes he received and thus “Civil Contract will not participate in the first session of the newly elected city council with participation of representatives of forces who have coerced votes from the people of Gyumri and are ready to render them to others.”

He called on the new city councillors to vote consciously, reject an imposed decision made as a result of calculations by others and not overshadow the future of Gyumri.

“In this situation the governance of Gyumri is doomed to failure, a crisis is inevitable. Gyumri must not become a city with a gloomy future, this is not in the interests of the Gyumri residents. Your children and you personally will bear the consequence of your wrong step, as much as you avoid that responsibility. We must head towards new early elections for the sake of Gyumri and the residents of Gyumri,” Minasyan said.

Since no one garnered over 50% of votes in the Gyumri elections, the political forces will have to form coalitions to be able to elect a mayor.