Sarık Minasyan, the mayoral candidate of the ruling Civil Contract party in Gyumri, announced that his party will not participate in the first session of the newly elected City Council. He called for new snap elections, stating this in a Facebook post.

According to Minasyan, governance in Gyumri is doomed to fail, and a crisis is inevitable.

"I am accountable to each voter's trust, and with that conviction, I declare that Civil Contract will not attend the City Council’s first session, which is being held with the participation of forces that deceitfully extracted votes from the people of Gyumri and are ready to hand them over to others.

I urge council members who care about Gyumri's future to vote according to their conscience, reject imposed decisions, and not cast a shadow over the city's future.

In this situation, governing Gyumri is destined to fail, and crisis is unavoidable.

Gyumri must not become a city with a clouded future. That does not serve its people's interests. The consequences of your missteps will fall on your children and yourselves, no matter how much you try to evade responsibility.

For the sake of Gyumri and its citizens, we must hold new, extraordinary elections," his post reads.

The mayoral election process has been marked by emotional speeches and political consensus.

Meanwhile, during the Council session, Karen Simonyan of the Mother Armenia faction announced that they would not nominate a candidate for mayor and reaffirmed their intention to support the opposition candidate who garners the most votes, as previously stated, according to Panorama.am .

Ruben Mkhitaryan from the My Strong Community faction also declared that they would not nominate a candidate, reaffirming their March 31 pledge to prioritize the city's interests.

"Yes, as Vardan Ghukasyan said, Gyumri is not just a community, it is a city," said Mkhitaryan.

Ghukasyan responded, "Well said."

Mkhitaryan added that they are ready to present their programs and proposals to the future mayor for joint implementation. He noted that even if these are not accepted, they will continue working in the council with the aim of the city's prosperity.

Liza Gasparyan from the Our City faction also confirmed they would not nominate a candidate but would support the united opposition candidate.

Eventually, the Communist Party officially nominated Vardan Ghukasyan. A counting commission was formed, and upon approaching the podium, Ghukasyan stated, "Glory to the Heavenly Lord, for the election was held in great harmony."

He added, "Despite attempts to cause disruption, they failed," and emphasized their commitment to serve the city, listen to all sides, and consider all proposals.

According to preliminary election results, Civil Contract received the most votes in Gyumri. The Communist Party of Armenia, led by former mayor Vardan Ghukasyan, came second. Two opposition forces that passed the council threshold have already announced their support for Ghukasyan. Martun Grigoryan, who withdrew his candidacy, stated he would ensure the necessary number of votes for Ghukasyan's election as mayor.