Davit Arushanian, who is affiliated with Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, was scheduled to meet the press on the first anniversary of his appointment to the post. His office unexpectedly cancelled the press conference, citing unspecified “urgent matters.”
Multiple media outlets, including those linked to the Armenian government, reported, meanwhile, that Arushanian’s dismissal is imminent. The government did not deny that.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on the condition of anonymity, Civil Contract figures in the provincial capital Gyumri confirmed Arushanian’s impending sacking and said it has taken them by surprise. They noted that as recently as on Tuesday evening the governor attended a meeting in Yerevan of the ruling party’s governing board chaired by Pashinian.
Arushanian did not return phone calls. Later in the day, he posted on Facebook what looked like a farewell message to supporters. He also released a video touting his one-year track record. Arushanian, 44, was the six governor of Shirak appointed during Pashinian’s nearly eight-year rule.
Local officials and commentators linked his exit to a December 7 mass held by renegade clerics at Gyumri’s main church as part of Pashinian’s intensifying efforts to depose Catholicos Garegin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. All 29 priests of the Shirak Diocese of the church reaffirmed their allegiance to Garegin ahead of that liturgy mostly attended by Pashinian and his political allies and supporters.
Several believers chanted Garegin’s name during the service. Others berated afterwards pro-government lawmakers and bishops who arrived from Yerevan on the occasion. Hundreds of other Gyumri residents flocked to a nearby church to attend a mass led by local clergymen defying the government.
