Former Mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan is not expelled from the Republican Party of Armenia, party’s Deputy Chairman Rzmik Zohrabyan said at today’s press conference, adding that party has no such intention.

He also refuted press reports saying Beglaryan intends to establish a new political force. “There are no prerequisites to it,” Zohrabyan noted, adding that criminal case will not be open against ex-mayor.

Commenting on incumbent mayor Karen Karapetyan’s close ties with famous criminal authorities, the RPA member stressed that criminals live in each district but living in the same neighborhood does not prove you have close ties with them. “I do not think that Karen Karapetyan is linked to criminal world,” he stressed.

Zohrabyan also refuted rumors about resignation of Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan considering the rumors that were spread after PM Tigran Sargsyan called education and science a corrupted field. “The field had become corrupted before Ashotyan was appointed, presently he is trying to tackle it,” the MP concluded.