Armenia: four candidates continue fighting for the post of Gyumri Mayor

In Armenia, according to the national Central Election Commission (CEC), one of the candidates for the Mayor of Gyumri – the non-partisan Rafael Asatryan – has announced his withdrawal. The four other candidates to be voted for on September 9 continue their race.

The candidates for the post of the Mayor of the second largest city of Armenia are: Samvel Balasanyan, a member of the "Prosperous Armenia" Party (PAP); Ovsep Simonyan from the oppositional "Dashnaktsutiun" ARF; and two non-partisans – a businessman Andranik Avetisyan and a pensioner Spartak Petrosyan.

Ovsep Simonyan told reporters that his main rival is Samvel Balasanyan, a PAP member and an MP from this Party's faction. On the two other candidates, he said that they are almost unknown people in Gyumri.

These two – the owner of the scrap metal collecting company Avetisyan and Petrosyan, 66, also told reporters that the PAP candidate has most significant chances to win and treated him as their main rival.

In total, 589 candidates have been nominated to the posts of the heads of 375 self-governing communities in five regions of Armenia, who will also be elected on September 9. Apart from the above Rafael Asatryan, eight other candidates, including candidates for the Mayors of Kapan Artik, Tashir and for the heads of several rural communities, filed their withdrawal applications before the registration deadline.