The powers participating in the Yerevan municipal elections are revealing their different formulations for their perceived type of Yerevan mayor with their candidates. For example, the Prosperous Armenia Party, the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun and the Heritage Party or "Barev Yerevan" alliance suggest political figures, while the Rule of Law Party's choices are administrative. The Armenian National Congress emphasizes experience and is pushing a former mayor, while the Republican Party of Armenia is suggesting someone who would solve everyday issues. But from their lists of proportional representation the kind of person that defines a council member is not quite obvious.

It's not clear why at least half of the election candidates, which include students, have made their lists and what they want to do by becoming Yerevan municipal council members. There aren't many authority figures on democracy and intellectuals on those lists. This leaves the impression that the lists were made to formally fulfill legislative obligations for some, while for others the goal is to push through the next mayor's decisions after the underlings send the seniors on their way.

Yet as can be seen, the ruling Republican party is insatiable. The Republican conglomerate's own children are included on the proportional list, where the sons of Edward Madatyan, Ashot Aghababyan, Ara Babloyan, Gevorg Manoukyan and others are all protected. In fact, their chief mission is to push vital decisions through. The government in this way has decided to transform the Yerevan municipality through a safe, nomenclatural generation change that is most convenient and forged to withstand, a peculiar school where someone who, after passing an exam successfully, can join the administrative and political elite with the potential for replacing their parents. That's how the Republican list differs from others in terms of its concrete underlying logic and goals.

The start of succession and the process of entering the government through parents, godfathers, fathers-in-law and uncles hasn't of course only just begun. From that bright manifestation emerged the careers of Taron Markarian, son of the late Prime Minister Antranik Markarian, who became the mayor of Yerevan, Abovyan mayor Karo Guloyan, son of National Assembly member Murad Guloyan as well as Gagik Tsarukyan's son-in-law, Ejmiadzin mayor Karen Grigoryan, son of General Manvel Grigoryan and others. But since they're all tied to dad's personal aspirations, we actually have to work with a clear, systematic and deliberate process. It's one thing when some general, a wealthy person or government official is planning a smooth career for his son, and its another thing when that is transformed into the clear guideline of a political organization and expressed in its proportional list. In fact, the social classes are slowly starting to transform into a political base of personnel working for the governing authorities.

The problem doesn't lie with the new generation. A few representatives of the "New Guard" are well educated, have proper upbringing and were able to gain significant work experience. Some of them are perhaps humble, ordinary people, while others are not so bad, but not so good, either. Those are basically the general stereotypes according to public opinion.

The problem lies with adaptability, where the youth counters the characteristics of self-dependency and liberalism. It's not coincidental that not one of these "kids" ever tried to abandon these concepts that were placed on the "grown ups," attempting to find one's own path while hitting the same barriers that ordinary citizens do, especially within the system of rule that is in place.

Succession is generally the most important component in protecting private interests. Within the government these sentiments become dominant only when the government itself perceives its property as real estate, material goods, family businesses and so forth. Just about every member of the present-day governing nomenclature looks to these children as concrete guarantees for keeping a slice of the pie in the government, just as an heir inherits possessions. For them to remain in their safe and warm environs within the government their stakes are safeguarded with a generational change. And their temporary haven is the Yerevan municipality.