The authorities have transformed the upcoming local elections in Gyumri into a battle of survival, according to Tigran Abrahamyan, a member of parliament from the "I Have Honor" faction.

"The elections in Gyumri have become a life-or-death struggle for the ruling party. They’re deploying not only outdated, unfit Civil Contract figures, but also their usual hired hitmen for such situations," Abrahamyan wrote in a Facebook post.

He claims the government’s strategy is to saturate the media with slander and fake content in order to distract from the fact that their candidate lacks an independent identity, has a multi-party past, and is essentially acting on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s orders.

"Their goal is to overwhelm the media field with defamatory and false information to hide the reality: their candidate has no personal political identity, a past of jumping between parties, and is merely offering his services to Pashinyan," Abrahamyan stated.

He added: "The label ‘Nikol’s candidate’ says everything about this person’s principles, background, and promises. Anyone representing Pashinyan or the Civil Contract party inherently supports the regime’s politics of denial, surrender, and betrayal."

In a related development, Martun Grigoryan, who is running for mayor in Gyumri’s snap city council elections, stated during a voter meeting that the city feels like it’s back in 1937, citing a climate of fear and total control. He said people who earn their daily bread through honest work are being intimidated.

Gyumri’s city council elections are scheduled for March 30.