Tensions continue to simmer in the Armenian town of Ijevan two months after the mayoral election on November 13, 2011.

This was clearly evident at yesterday’s the municipal council session. 13 out of the 15 members showed up.

Vardan Ghalumyan, who used to serve on the council, was elected mayor. Hovik Khechyan, another member, was arrested before New Year’s on charges of hooliganism.

Supporters of former mayor Varuzhan Nersisyan within the council showed up together for the session at 10am. They sat together around the table in an apparent show of force.

Up for ratification was the 2012 Ijevan draft budget, including salaries for municipal employees.

Two council members, Narineh Grigoryan and Hasmik Amiryan, claimed that they heard about the council meeting through friends and neighbours. They hadn’t been informed in person.

The council’s chief of staff said that notices had been mailed out a week before.

First to take the floor was Hrach Nersisyan, the brother of the former mayor and Director of the Ijevan Medical Center. He complained about the 79 million AMD budgetary expenditure envisaged for garbage collection.

Hasmik Amiryan chimed in and said that this amount was more than the proposed expenditure for the municipality’s staff.

By a vote of 7 to 6, the council voted against ratifying the council session’s agenda. The opposing members demanded that Mayor Ghalumyan invite the directors of the municipal garbage collection service and other municipal services to the next council meeting in order that they provide annual reports of their activities.

Mayor Ghalumyan rose and said that he was all for transparent government. This is where the local intrigue begins.

It’s no wonder that Ghalumyan’s supporters in the council stressed the urgent need for an accounting from the utility enterprise (which also manages garbage collection). Samvel Chibukhchyan, its former director, was elected to the municipal council in May, 2011. He was replaced by his nephew, Edgar Mehrabyan.

Samvel Chibukhchyan was at the council session and voted for the agenda’s ratification. Naturally, his “yes” vote was advantageous to supporters of the former mayor.

Varazdat Gevorgyan, who heads the town’s Department of Finance, announced that at the end of 2011, municipal debt amounted to 5.368 million AMD. 624,000 AMD is owed to the Water and Sewage Company and the balance is comprised of salaries owed to municipal agencies.

The Ijevan Municipal Council will meet again in ten days.

Seven of the 13 current council members are relatives or supporters of former Mayor Varuzhan Nersisyan.

It’s a safe bet to say that tensions between the two camps will bubble to the surface at the next session as well.