The Zhoghovurd daily writes: “According to the information of the Zhoghovurd daily, local government elections are also expected in the Arzni community of Kotayk region on September 27.
This election is especially noteworthy, since the elections in Arzni will not be held on a proportional basis. The community, having less than 4,000 voters, participates on a majoritarian basis, and the council of elders will consist of 9 members. According to preliminary data for this year, 2,344 citizens have the right to vote in Arzni.
Let us recall that the head of Arzni is Felix Mirzoyev. Mirzoyev became the head of the community as a result of the 2023 elections. In those elections, he received 372 votes, ahead of Alexander Mirzoyev, nominated by the Civil Contract party, who received 292 votes. Among the other candidates, Vardan Avagyan received 236 votes, Emil Ivanov - 113, and Koryun Chobanyan - 103 votes. The total number of voters at that time was 2132, and the turnout was 1164.
These numbers say a lot about the political reality of Arzni. The presence of a CP candidate does not yet mean that the government candidate in the community will automatically win. The CP lost in Arzni. In the 2023 elections, the government party openly entered the fight. The CP nominated Alexander Mirzoyev as the candidate for the head of the community. However, the self-nominated Felix Mirzoyev won. This is also an important precedent for the 2026 elections. As small as Arzni is, the election results here may show how far the Communist Party is able to spread its political influence not only in large cities, but also in small, local political systems. This time, the electoral process is taking place in a different political environment.
After the June parliamentary elections, the government has entered the phase of local government elections, where each community is also considered an indicator of the effectiveness of local government management and political control. In the case of Arzni, it is especially interesting that the current mayor is not a leader who won with a party government candidate. He has his own electoral history and his own local support. And this is where the main question arises: will the government try to form a council of elders in Arzni that will be more manageable for the central government. Our sources report that the latter is a “convenient” candidate for the authorities, and his reproduction will also be to the authorities’ liking. Arzni is not one of the usual settlements in the Kotayk region. The community is close to Yerevan, has a health resort and economic potential, and there are tourist and recreation facilities operating in the community.
At the same time, it also has its own unique community and national-cultural environment. Therefore, it is important for the government here not only to collect votes on election day. It is important to have influence in the local government system. And the council of elders is the body through which many key decisions are made in the community, from the community budget to property and development issues. Therefore, the September 27 election can also be viewed as a struggle for 9 seats, behind which stands the issue of control over the community government. The situation for the incumbent mayor is also ambiguous. On the one hand, the 2023 elections showed that he has personal electoral resources and was able to defeat even the candidate nominated by the Communist Party.
On the other hand, there were also quite scandalous episodes during his tenure. In June 2025, Felix Mirzoyev was arrested in connection with a fight and shooting incident in Kotayk. According to the Investigative Committee, several people were initially arrested in the case, and Mirzoyev was later released. In subsequent publications, his name also appeared in the context of another criminal proceeding regarding communal property and public bidding. These publications concerned suspicions of his abuse of official influence.
Details in today's issue of the Zhoghovurd daily.
