Tevanyan: citizens must unite against transport price increase

PanARMENIAN.Net - Leader of the Mother Armenia alliance, Andranik Tevanyan, speaking about their initiative against the increase in public transport fares, stated that if the city authorities reject their proposal—which has gathered 17,000 signatures—during the council meeting, the issue will be taken to a referendum.

He noted that the current administration has only 8-10% support in the capital, while the majority of residents are boycotting the fare hike, reports "Pastinfo."

"If citizens unite and refuse to pay, we can achieve our goal," he said, emphasizing that their frequent use of public transport has shown that many people are already not paying.

Tevanyan stressed that their demand is legitimate, as 17,000 citizens have signed the proposal stating that urban transport fares should not exceed 100 drams and that a package system could make travel even more affordable.

"As long as this issue is not on the council's agenda, boycotting and refusing to pay is legitimate. If the city authorities reject the proposal during the council meeting, we will move to the next phase. The next phase involves collecting signatures from 10% of Yerevan’s voters, after which the issue will go to a referendum. This means that Yerevan residents will decide whether they agree with the price hike, which, according to the authorities, will be continuous. If they accept it, then there is nothing anyone can do," he said.

Since February 1, former Yerevan mayor Hayk Marutyan, the "Mother Armenia" faction in the city council, and youth movements have been fighting against the transport fare increase, urging people to pay only 100 drams.

Yerevan’s city council passed a decision with 33 votes in favor, setting the fare at 150 drams per ride starting February 1. Additionally, a unified ticketing system will be introduced.