The “Hraparak” newspaper wrote:
“Although producer Ruben Mkhitaryan from Gyumri denied the rumors about his candidacy in an interview with “Hraparak” on December 4, two days ago he made a video message and said that he would run for mayor of Gyumri on the list of the “My Powerful Community” party.
He literally answered our question: “Your name is also being circulated as a possible candidate for mayor.” "They are talking a thousand things, talking nonsense. Who should I have received such an offer from, if I am the one making the decision?
No party can offer me anything, because if you want to hold the position of mayor of Gyumri, you must want it yourself.
In 2018, a similar stupid thesis was circulated that I returned to my father's house because I want to become mayor. There is no such thing, I have not received any offer, I am not interested in that issue."
In other words, as a Gyumri resident, are you not interested in the fate of the city, we asked him. "If the leader of Armenia is a TikToker, it doesn't matter to me who will lead Gyumri," he said and added. “I don’t live under illusions.
There has already been a power grab in Gyumri. I wasn’t interested in the old election, nor in the upcoming one. Our country is run by TikTokers, that says it all. I don’t take the elections seriously.”
After the last statement, we tried to talk to Ruben Mkhitaryan again, but he hasn’t been answering our phone calls in recent days.
We talked to Rafik Andreasyan, the leader of the “My Powerful Community” party and former mayor of Urtsadzor, on whose list Mkhitaryan is going to run.
- Mr. Andreasyan, Ruben Mkhitaryan is the candidate for mayor of Gyumri from the “My Powerful Community” party. How did you decide to nominate him as the candidate for mayor?Or did he express such a desire? - He expressed his desire, and we have no objections to him, since we have noticed his behavior from the first day. Many say that he is a former member, etc., but, in my opinion, there are former members whose deeds are undeniable, but there are also former members whose deeds are unforgivable. Based on that principle, we have no objections and will support his candidacy as an Armenian. We have several principles: A person must be sincere, loyal, patriotic and a representative of a good family. We give place to people with good families. We haven’t even discussed many issues in detail, they applied, and we agreed. Let me say that if there are national elections, we will participate in them, although we are against the elections, until then we must remove this administration.
- Are they calling Ruben Mkhitaryan the former or you?
- They wrote articles about Ruben, they write stupid things, as if they were about former presidents. Our misfortune is that they can blacken a person indiscriminately. Even when they came, they said all sorts of things about me, but the court acquitted me, and it turned out that they were fabricated rumors. - Maybe Mkhitaryan chose your party precisely to avoid being associated with the former, although you also belong to the Republicans.
- I personally have always been very against parties. Parties are phenomena that divide our people. Parties They were separating people, I would not have founded a party if it were not required by law. We have always been active, we have been able to find a common language with our society, it is not that we have been fascinated by the authorities, the interests of the people have always been paramount for us. I was a communist, I remain a communist today, simply, based on the requirements of the law,We created a party to fill the ranks with literate people. -
And who has compiled or will compile the electoral list? They say that well-known people have been included in the list. - Ruben compiled it. But I have stated my conditions so that suddenly some fraudulent people are not included in the list, it would not be good for them to be fraudulent.
- How will you determine who is a fraudster and who is honest? - The political field of the republic is full of fraudsters. People make money, they have turned politics into a joke for themselves. One goes west, one goes north, they forget that they are Armenians, they came from an Armenian family.
- In your opinion, does Ruben Mkhitaryan have a chance to win? - We assess his chances, taking into account public opinion, his speeches. He proves that he is sincere, and the people love him.
We have mainly relied on the love of the people. - In December, in an interview with us, he spoke about the possibility of elections He had denied the rumors of his participation. How did he change his mind?
He even said that he was not interested in anything related to the elections.- There is a slogan in politics called "never say never". This is that case.- What work has "My Powerful Community" done recently, do you have offices in the regions?-
We have nominated candidates for the council of elders in Spitak, we participated in the elections in Masis with a bloc, and we have council members in Kasakh. We have had a lot of participation and activity. We have become a little passive recently, because different forces have come to the fore. You know, our people have simply been deceived, because they are calling the people "scum", I do not accept that, we cannot say such things, let no one forget that tomorrow, during the elections, the people will go to the door. They simply managed to deceive our people masterfully.
I have never been defeated,"My people have always appreciated me, I have always done three times more for the people than I promised, I have never once bent the will of the people."
