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Asbarez (19 October 2023)

Yerevan’s new Mayor Tigran Avinyan sparked strong opposition criticism on Thursday after it emerged that a lavish inauguration ceremony organized by him last week cost taxpayers over 87 million drams ($220,000).

Avinyan, who is allied to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, was sworn in on October 13 almost one month after municipal elections in which the ruling Civil Contract party made what many observers see as a poor showing.

The party led by Pashinyan won 32.5 percent of the vote, falling well short of an absolute majority in the city council empowered to appoint the mayor. It managed to install Avinyan thanks to a power-sharing deal with a pro-establishment party and the effective backing of another group led by a controversial video blogger wanted by Armenian law-enforcement authorities.

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