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The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Commission Will Supervise
Samvel Balasanyan
http://www.aravot.am/en/2012/11/10/128986/
NOVEMBER 10, 2012 15:21
Immediately after the local elections, Hovsep Simonyan, the defeated
ARF candidate for the mayor of Gyumri and the head of the financial
and economic department of the Gyumri town hall, stated that his party
would not let Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) member Samvel Balasanyan
govern single-handedly, it would supervise every step of his,
decisions and financial deals he made, in order that Gyumri didn't
suffer from bad governance. The former candidate explained playing the
role of supervisor not by the ARF members' being offended and
insulted, but having more than 10 thousand votes of the Gyumri
residents behind them. Let us remind that the ARF candidate won 10 281
votes and he didn't consider this a defeat at all, since, according to
him, those were impartial votes, and he didn't use money, people
weren't taken from their graves and brought to polling stations to
vote for him. Anyway, yesterday it came out that the ARF regional
organization in Shirak is going to establish a 5-member commission
consisting of economists, architects, people from the field of
education and other specialists, which will participate in every
meeting of the town council, will raise the problems of the town and
will make the newly-elected mayor of Gyumri work jointly with the town
council for the benefit of the Gyumri residents.
Gevorg Alekyan, an official of the ARF regional committee in Shirak,
explained their goal during a conversation with Aravot in the
following manner, `After the local elections, at the meetings with our
comrades, we decided to establish a political commission, which will
participate in all the meetings of the Gyumri town council, will make
its proposals, which, in our opinion, are really in the interests of
the people, at the initiative of our party's spine. All that is done
to make people understand that there is a political party in the town,
in the region, and if our proposals, which are in the interests of the
people, are not accepted by the town hall, serious criticism will be
made, we will let everyone know, we will tell the people that this
proposal has been made in their interest, for them, for the town that
belongs to all of us, but, unfortunately, the town authorities do not
accept it today.' In response to our question who would be the
chairman of the commission, whether it would be former candidate for
mayor Hovsep Simonyan, Gevorg Alekyan said, `The commission will
surely have a chairman, secretary, records will be made, but since
specialists in different fields will be included, every one of them
will appear at the council's meetings in accordance with his/her
office, his/her field, will be active in his/her field. You can notice
that there are certain drawbacks in kindergartens today, there is a
problem with heating - these are minor problems, which can be solved
quickly, but they have become fundamental problems, one can asphalt
the square in the vicinity of a kindergarten, but have no heating
inside. The specialist in education will have his/her say here.'
According to the ARF regional committee official, immediately after
establishing the commission, the party's office will announce visiting
days for the residents, will register their complaints and present
them to the Gyumri council. `That commission will work like standing
committees of the National Assembly - a work schedule will be drawn up
and there will be visiting hours. We don't establish the commission,
because our candidate lost to Samvel Balasanyan by votes, although we
don't think it was a defeat, we won a moral victory, and we don't
establish a commission to supervise Samvel Balasanyan, to find some
mistakes. I don't want to draw attention to Samel Balasanyan's
personality, since, in our opinion, he will carry out the council's
decisions, and attending the council's meetings, we will clearly see
what the relationship between the mayor and the council is like. I saw
Balasanyan's speech on TV recently, when he, addressing the then
council of Gyumri, tried to convene an auditing group regarding Vardan
Ghukasyan's debts, and when the council voted against his proposal, he
said, `OK, the next council will come and then we will convene an
auditing group.' I didn't like it at all, one shouldn't make a
decision on the council's behalf before time. Balasanyan was not and
will not be a problem for us, we take an interest in him insofar as he
is the incumbent mayor, and we are generally interested in the work
style of the current government of the town,' the official of the ARF
regional committee in Shirak explained.
Nune AREVSHATYAN
From: A. Papazian
Samvel Balasanyan
http://www.aravot.am/en/2012/11/10/128986/
NOVEMBER 10, 2012 15:21
Immediately after the local elections, Hovsep Simonyan, the defeated
ARF candidate for the mayor of Gyumri and the head of the financial
and economic department of the Gyumri town hall, stated that his party
would not let Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) member Samvel Balasanyan
govern single-handedly, it would supervise every step of his,
decisions and financial deals he made, in order that Gyumri didn't
suffer from bad governance. The former candidate explained playing the
role of supervisor not by the ARF members' being offended and
insulted, but having more than 10 thousand votes of the Gyumri
residents behind them. Let us remind that the ARF candidate won 10 281
votes and he didn't consider this a defeat at all, since, according to
him, those were impartial votes, and he didn't use money, people
weren't taken from their graves and brought to polling stations to
vote for him. Anyway, yesterday it came out that the ARF regional
organization in Shirak is going to establish a 5-member commission
consisting of economists, architects, people from the field of
education and other specialists, which will participate in every
meeting of the town council, will raise the problems of the town and
will make the newly-elected mayor of Gyumri work jointly with the town
council for the benefit of the Gyumri residents.
Gevorg Alekyan, an official of the ARF regional committee in Shirak,
explained their goal during a conversation with Aravot in the
following manner, `After the local elections, at the meetings with our
comrades, we decided to establish a political commission, which will
participate in all the meetings of the Gyumri town council, will make
its proposals, which, in our opinion, are really in the interests of
the people, at the initiative of our party's spine. All that is done
to make people understand that there is a political party in the town,
in the region, and if our proposals, which are in the interests of the
people, are not accepted by the town hall, serious criticism will be
made, we will let everyone know, we will tell the people that this
proposal has been made in their interest, for them, for the town that
belongs to all of us, but, unfortunately, the town authorities do not
accept it today.' In response to our question who would be the
chairman of the commission, whether it would be former candidate for
mayor Hovsep Simonyan, Gevorg Alekyan said, `The commission will
surely have a chairman, secretary, records will be made, but since
specialists in different fields will be included, every one of them
will appear at the council's meetings in accordance with his/her
office, his/her field, will be active in his/her field. You can notice
that there are certain drawbacks in kindergartens today, there is a
problem with heating - these are minor problems, which can be solved
quickly, but they have become fundamental problems, one can asphalt
the square in the vicinity of a kindergarten, but have no heating
inside. The specialist in education will have his/her say here.'
According to the ARF regional committee official, immediately after
establishing the commission, the party's office will announce visiting
days for the residents, will register their complaints and present
them to the Gyumri council. `That commission will work like standing
committees of the National Assembly - a work schedule will be drawn up
and there will be visiting hours. We don't establish the commission,
because our candidate lost to Samvel Balasanyan by votes, although we
don't think it was a defeat, we won a moral victory, and we don't
establish a commission to supervise Samvel Balasanyan, to find some
mistakes. I don't want to draw attention to Samel Balasanyan's
personality, since, in our opinion, he will carry out the council's
decisions, and attending the council's meetings, we will clearly see
what the relationship between the mayor and the council is like. I saw
Balasanyan's speech on TV recently, when he, addressing the then
council of Gyumri, tried to convene an auditing group regarding Vardan
Ghukasyan's debts, and when the council voted against his proposal, he
said, `OK, the next council will come and then we will convene an
auditing group.' I didn't like it at all, one shouldn't make a
decision on the council's behalf before time. Balasanyan was not and
will not be a problem for us, we take an interest in him insofar as he
is the incumbent mayor, and we are generally interested in the work
style of the current government of the town,' the official of the ARF
regional committee in Shirak explained.
Nune AREVSHATYAN
From: A. Papazian