Diana Gasparian gave personal reasons for the “difficult” decision in a statement posted on Facebook. Gasparian, who has run Vagharshapat since 2018, said she wants to “dedicate myself to a quiet family life” and will step down “soon.”
The historic town 22 kilometers west of Yerevan, also known as Echmiadzin, was rocked in March this year by the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old man at the gas station located just outside it. Law-enforcement authorities have since been hunting for another local resident who they believe committed the murder.
According to unconfirmed media reports, the fugitive suspect is a friend of Gasparian’s husband, Aramayis Mirzoyan. The investigative publication Hetq.am said that the 36-year-old victim, Artur Paronian, bitterly argued with Mirzoyan late last year and held a grudge against him.
Investigators searched Gasparian’s and Mirzoyan’s home in the wake of the shooting. The pro-government mayor said afterwards that she is unaware of details of the killing. Her husband, who also holds a seat in the town council, has still not commented on it.
Early this month, the ruling party’s governing board headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reportedly discussed Gasparian’s continued tenure during a meeting attended by the 36-year-old mayor. It is not yet clear whether she was forced to resign due to fallout from the embarrassing crime.
In recent years, Gasparian and her husband have faced media accusations of using their position to enrich themselves through dubious redevelopment projects and other business deals. Also, RFE/R’s Armenian Service discovered in February that the mayor granted a fuel supply contract worth 13.6 million drams ($34,000) to her husband’s father and the owner of the gas station where the killing took place. In April, Armenia’s Commission on the Prevention of Corruption fined her 300,000 drams for the conflict of interest.
In her statement, Gasparian defended her track record, saying that Vagharshapat has been “transformed” on her watch.