Former Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan today announced his candidacy for mayor of the Armenian capital, arguing his work to effectively manage the governance of the Armenian capital remains unfinished.

Elections for the Yerevan Municipal Council are scheduled for September 17. The new council will then elect the city's mayor.

Yerevan’s Municipal Council ousted Marutyan as mayor in a December 2021 no-confidence vote following policy disagreements he had with the Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party.

Marutyan, in a Facebook video, said he decided to run for mayor because the community’s wellbeing outweighs his personal interests.  

Marutyan said the promises of the 2018 “Velvet Revolution” remain unfilled and those who came to power on the wave of widespread national protests have reverted to the “old ways of ruling”.

He called on all those who love Yerevan and Armenia to shake off their apathy and work for a prosperous Yerevan, warning that if they don’t those only motivated by personal profit will rule on their behalf.

Marutyan said his campaign team lacks financial and administrative resources, doesn’t own media outlets, and thus must rely on the people to win.

The ruling My Step (Im Kayl) faction of the Yerevan Municipal Council introduced the no-confidence vote in 2021, arguing that Marutyan had severed his ties with the Civil Contract party and had failed to implement the party’s campaign obligations.

Following Marutyan’s ouster as mayor, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said Marutyan had created an institutional crisis within the Yerevan Municipality and that the no-confidence vote was an “institutional resolution” of the problem.