Your trusted source

What are the main expectations of the residents of Armenia’s capital city from the future mayor - was the question Panorama.am asked sociologist Gevorg Poghosyan to comment.

To remind, Yerevan’s Council of Elders’ elections are slated for May 14 with three political forces set to participate in the municipal elections. The party list of the ruling Republican Party is headed by the acting city Mayor Taron Margaryan. Apart from the ruling party, two oppositions forces -   Yelq (Exit) bloc headed by Nikol Pashinyan and the newly established Yerkir Tsirani (Land of Apricot) party headed by Zaruhi Postanjyan will vie for 65 seats in Yerevan’s Council of Elders that will elect a new city mayor.

In the sociologist’s words, Yerevan residents see Nikol Pashinyan as a deputy at the National Assembly, while the head of Yerkir Tsirani party, former MP Zaruhi Postanjyan is mostly associated with the post of the Human Rights Defender. Poghosyan insisted people are overall satisfied with Taron Margaryan’s work in the post of the mayor.

To Poghosyan, the main complaints of the capital city residents are related to wastewater system, street lighting, and constant traffic jams. Despite these pressing issues, Yerevan residents overall assess Taron Margaryan’s activity in the post of the mayor positively. 

“Nonetheless, large number of the residents are set to vote with a view of seeing solutions to the mentioned problems. Yerevan has numerous problems as any big city, and people hope the acting mayor is able to solve them should he get reelected,” he said.

As to the upcoming elections to Yerevan’s Council of Elders, the sociologist said, people want to see new faces, yet they will probably vote considering their previous experience.