Ex-mayor regains office in Armenian village elections
The former mayor of the village of Urtsadzor in Armenia’s Ararat Province, Rafik Andreasyan won Sunday’s local elections, several months after his resignation.
A non-partisan, Andreasyan was forced to step down as village mayor on 10 October 2018 amid continued protests. The local residents accused him of corruption and abuses and demanded fresh elections.
Andreasyan, however, denied any wrongdoing, decrying the accusations as a ‘slander’.
A total of five candidates were running as Urtsadzor mayor in Sunday’s elections, which saw a voter turnout of 72,05% (2,220 out of 3,081 citizens), according to the initial election results unveiled by the Central Electoral Commission.
Andreasyan was elected Mayor of Urtsadzor with 911 votes, while the acting village head from the Civil Contract party, Gevorg Avetisyan garnered only 744 votes.
Local elections were held in a total of 24 communities in Armenia on February 17, with 14 communities hosting regular elections and 10 – snap elections.