Arushinyan Wins Municipal Election from Prison

Arush Arushinyan won from prison, an unprecedented result in Armenia. (Flickr)

Armenian opposition candidate Arush Arushinyan won municipal elections in Goris while in pre-trial detention, making him the first candidate to win an Armenian election from prison. Arushinyan, the incumbent mayor of Goris, faces charges of bribing voters on behalf of the Armenia Alliance, which he represented in parliamentary elections.

Arushinyan was arrested in July and charged under five articles of the Armenian Criminal Code. Arushinyan’s attorney Armen Melkonyan has denounced his arrest as politically motivated. Gagik Arushinyan, Arushinyan’s father and campaign manager, has also denied involvement in bribery.

Four municipalities held elections: Goris, Meghri, Gyumri, and Dilijan. The ruling Civil Contract Party, led by current Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, was defeated in three out of the four elections by a variety of opposition movements. Turnout stood lower when compared with the snap parliamentary elections in June.

Arushinyan headed the Arushinyan Alliance, consisting of the Resurgent Armenia Party and the National Agenda Party. The coalition won around 60 percent of the vote, with Civil Contract candidate Vladimir Abunts garnering 34 percent. 

Police raided the Arushinyan Alliance headquarters on the eve of the election, and allies of the campaign have been apprehended. Authorities conducted the raid as part of the vote-buying investigation, blocking the entrance and searching for funds tied to bribery. Melkonyan has denounced the search, as have Arushinyan’s colleagues in the Armenia Alliance.

The elections in Goris and other municipalities are the first to take place following a series of reforms changing the way candidates are elected. These reforms introduce proportional voting to all but the smallest municipalities, and they include a 1-in-3 gender quota to encourage more women’s participation in elections and government. 

Opposition parties in Armenia view the Civil Contract Party’s defeat as a sign of Pashinyan’s decreasing popularity. Artur Khachatryan, a member of the Hayastan opposition bloc, has tied the results to the fact that Pashinyan did not personally campaign in the municipalities in which his party lost. 

Syunik, the region in which Goris is located, borders territories that Azerbaijani forces recently retook during the most recent escalation of the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Arushinyan and other mayors have vocally criticized the Pashinyan government for what they consider a defeat in the war and a forfeit of Armenian lands.

Armenia held snap parliamentary elections in June, following the conclusion of the Russian-brokered peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan and subsequent calls for Pashinyan’s resignation. Pashinyan’s victory in those elections kept his party in power, but opposition figures continue to see him as a traitor to the country.

Arushinyan has expressed gratitude to voters, promising “more victories.” He remains in prison.