Armenian Capital's Mayor Resigns After National Change of Power
4:23 PM
Reuters
FILE – A woman walks in front of the government headquarters at the Republic Square in Yerevan, Armenia, May 3, 2018. The mayor of the Armenian capital resigned Monday.
YEREVAN —
The mayor of the Armenian capital Yerevan resigned Monday, two months after his party was ousted from national power following weeks of mass protests against corruption and cronyism.
Opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was elected prime minister by parliament on May 8. He then appointed allies and supporters to his cabinet and submitted a new government program, which was approved by parliament in June.
Taron Margaryan, an influential member of the former ruling Republican Party, resigned as Yerevan mayor, a post he had held since November 2011. Margaryan did not explain in a statement why he had stepped down.
Several street protests had been held since Pashinyan took office to demand Margaryan's resignation.
“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS
