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Former Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan has denounced the offensive remarks about Opel drivers made by the father of the Armenian capital’s incumbent mayor, Tigran Avinyan.

Avinyan apologized for his father's statement calling for a parking fee of 500,000 drams for “jerk Opel drivers” in central Yerevan.

In a social media post on Friday, Marutyan stated that he could have considered the incident an isolated one, as claimed by Avinyan, if it weren't for the mayor's previous disparaging comments about the Armenian media, calling it a "garbage dump" and comparing his critics to flies.

Marutyan also pointed out an incident in which National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan spat at an opposition activist in 2023, arguing that such events were not merely accidents.

“They reveal the mentality of those in key government positions and their disrespectful attitude toward the people who entrusted them with power,” the ex-mayor and comedian wrote.

“No apology can make the things right, as the city and country should not be a testing ground for young men and women with questionable moral values attempting to fulfill their personal ambitions, who would simply offer apologies and leave in case of failure.

“All this should be given a clear political assessment, and I'm sure that the people will have their say,” he added.