Yerevan Mayor Resigns
The Mayor of Yerevan, Taron Margaryan, resigned from his post yesterday late evening. Margaryan took the post of Mayor in 2011, succeeding Karen Karapetyan who later became the Prime Minister of Armenia (2016-2018). Margaryan was reelected to the post in May 2017, when his main challenger was the current PM of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, who blamed Margaryan for bribery vote buying, and falsification of the results of the elections.
Margaryan’s resignation was the result of increasing public pressure, as he was being widely criticized for corruption deals and anti-environmental decisions. The rumors about the resignation of Margaryan became more active in mid-June, after the detention of two officials of the City Council who were suspected of corruption by the National Security Service.
After the resignation of Serzh Sargsyan from the post of PM as a result of a peaceful revolution, Taron Margaryan’s resignation was widely anticipated; protestors and environmental activists were blocking the entanances and exits to the City Council and making obstacles for him to enter the building, demanding his resignation from the post.
Margaryan started his political career after the sudden death of his father in 2007. His father Andranik Margaryan was the PM of Armenia 2000-2007 and the leader of the ruling Republican Party.
Recently, investigative journalists released a film about the ownership and the financial connections of the Mayor, who, despite of his years, has accumulated a vast fortune though, during most of his life, he has occupied mainly governmental positions with a ban on business activities.
The new mayor of the capital of Armenia will be elected by the City Council within one month.