Armenian political analysts doubt effectiveness of new Yerevan Council of Elders

Political analyst Grant Mikaelyan, a researcher of the Caucasus Institute, has told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he expects no qualitative change in the future composition of the Yerevan Council of Elders.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 14, the voting at the elections to the Council of Elders of Yerevan was held in the Armenian capital.

Grant Mikaelyan believes that members of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) will dominate in the new City Council and that the weight of the opposition factions will decrease in comparison with the earlier composition.

According to the political analyst, there are no prerequisites to conclude that the body of the local self-administration of the Armenian capital will represent the interests of the broad layers of the population and that its composition will become more democratic.

"The role of the Council of Elders is to be a city parliament, play the role of a counterweight to the Mayor and his administration. However, the City Council never worked in that capacity. No such tradition has been worked out," noted Grant Mikaelyan.

The changes in the new composition of the Council of Elders will be formal and they will represent a change in the names of the factions represented in it. This opinion was voiced to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by political analyst Armen Badalyan.

He believes that those changes will not affect the activities of the City Council of Elders, since in its new composition, like in the current Council, members of the RPA will be represented in the majority.

In her  turn, Anahit Bashkhyan, a member of the faction of the Council of Elders "Hello, Yerevan!", who is running for the City Council on the proportional list of the "Elk" bloc, believes that the opposition is able to influence the decision-making process.

According to Anahit Bashkhyan, the activities of opposition factions in the new body of the local self-administration of the Armenian capital will be more effective.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.