Martun Grigorian, a Gyumri-based former member of the Armenian parliament, was arrested on Thursday on charges of violating a legal ban on pre-election benevolence denied by him. Representatives of his Our City bloc, one of the four opposition groups controlling the municipal legislature, accused the Armenian government of seeking to cause a political crisis in the city to pave the way for a snap local election sought by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Avetis Arakelian, the acting Gyumri mayor representing another opposition force, agreed with that assessment. He told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the municipal administration is still not in crisis.
Arakelian is a son-in-law of Mayor Vartan Ghukasian, who was arrested last October on corruption charges strongly denied by him. A Yerevan court moved Ghukasian to house arrest last month despite two more criminal charges leveled against him in June.
“The opposition will not back down,” insisted Karen Simonian of the Mother Armenia party.
Knarik Harutiunina, a local leader of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, denied any political motives behind Grigorian’s arrest, saying that the criminal proceedings are “absolutely legal.” At the same time, Harutiunian echoed Pashinian’s recent calls for a fresh election in Armenia’s second largest city. But she did not say how the ruling party will go about forcing them.
“There is one way to do it: through repression,” said Ruben Mkhitarian, an entertainment producer leading the fourth opposition group represented in the local council.
“If they [the authorities] have decided to seize that post [of Gyumri mayor,] they will stop at nothing,” he claimed. “If necessary, they will arrest all members of Martun Grigorian's family, Karen Simonian's family or Ruben Mkhitarian's family.”
Civil Contract already took control of Gyumri in late 2024 as a result of criminal charges brought against businessman Samvel Balasanian whose bloc had installed then Mayor Vardges Samsonian. The latter and other city council members representing Balasanian’s bloc resigned at the time, paving the way for the last local election held in March 2025. The four opposition forces collectively defeated Pashinian’s party in that ballot.