Hayk Marutyan, the former mayor of Yerevan who resigned from his post due to a disagreement with the ruling party in December 2021, declared his intention to run in the upcoming mayoral election in the city. Marutian is set to head the list of candidates for the National Progress party, a relatively unfamiliar political entity in Armenia up to this point.

In his video message to the public, Marutyan stated that his campaign is financially constrained, devoid of oligarchs' support, and lacks media resources or administrative levers. He also affirmed that Yerevan’s destiny should not be determined by individuals lacking competence and selected at random. 

Hayk Marutyan supported then-opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan during the 2018 revolution and subsequently became the mayor of Yerevan as a member of PM Pashinyan’s political group, securing 80 percent of the votes in the same year. In December 2021, the ruling faction of My Step in Yerevan’s Municipal Assembly passed a vote of no confidence against the former mayor Marutyan, asserting that he had strayed from revolutionary principles. The faction aligned with the government further alleged that Marutyan did not deliver on the pledges made during the bloc’s election campaign and did not effectively address the objective of eradicating systemic corruption.

The nomination of Hayk Marutyan sparked divergent viewpoints within Armenia՛s political landscape. Certain groups perceive this as a prime opportunity to hinder the ruling authority from securing the mayorship, while others show concerns about his potential associations with the previous corrupt regime.

Eduard Sharmazanov, a Vice President of the former ruling Republican Party, posted on his Facebook page, urging people not to support the ruling party and to avoid voting for candidates who participated in the 2018 revolution.

The Yerevan Municipal Assembly elections are scheduled for September 17. The ruling Civil Contract party is set to be led by Tigran Avinyan, the current Deputy Mayor who previously held the position of deputy prime minister in the Pashinyan’s government. Other political parties and groups, including Aprelu Yerkir (Country for Living), Bright Armenia, and the Mother Armenia movement, have also declared their intentions to participate in the elections.

The opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Party decided against putting forward its own proportional representation list for the forthcoming Yerevan municipal elections. The ARF Supreme Body made this announcement in an official statement. The statement underlines that amidst intricate geopolitical challenges and threats confronting Armenia and Karabakh, they do not find it proper to nominate their proportional representation list for the Yerevan elections.