2 Village Mayors in Ararat Marz Want to Relinquish their Posts: Newspaper

The heads of the rural communities of Darbnik and Nizami in Ararat marz (province) submitted appeals to the village councils requesting to end their term in office early, reports local daily Haykakan Zhamanak. Both men lost in the local elections on March 9 and want to relinquish their post before the deadline prescribed by law.

Speaking to the newspaper, Chief of Staff of Darbnik's village administration Alik Harutyunyan said that acting village mayor Azat Khachatryan, being defeated by Republican Party of Armenia candidate Davit Gziryan in the March 9 election, has the right to hold the position until May 16, but he simply doesn't want to.

Nizami's Republican Party of Armenia mayor Artavazd Dunoyan lost to Harutyun Karapetyan (no party affiliation), who, by the way, after his victory, became a Republican Party of Armenia member. Dunoyan, who governed the village for 8 years, told the newspaper that though he has the right to hold the position until June 4, he would rather put his efforts toward a small animal husbandry business.

The village councils of both Darbnik and Nizami, accepting the village mayors' requests, prepared the necessary protocols and submitted them to the regional councils, which, in turn, submitted them to the Armenian government. Whether the two men will be able to relinquish their posts early or not depends on the government's decision.