YEREVAN. – I am publicly appealing to the Prosecutor's Office demanding that a criminal case be instituted in connection with the abuse of official power at Yerevan Municipality. Davit Khajakyan, head of the opposition Luys faction of the Yerevan Council of Elders, announced this at the November 26 council meeting of the Council of Elders.

He explained that in the absence of the Mayor of Yerevan, his deputy Hayk Sargsyan had adopted about 70 normative acts on behalf of the Mayor, which he had no right to do, as such decisions are made by the Mayor himself, or, in his absence, by the First Deputy Mayor. "It's a dangerous trend," Khajakyan added. "And the law enforcement agencies should deal with this issue."

In response, Karen Hambardzumyan, advisor to the Mayor of Yerevan, assured that the law does not regulate situations when the First Deputy Mayor also is absent. "The municipality is ready to substantiate the legality of such actions," he said, "including to law enforcement agencies."

"It's a free country," Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan said with humor, in his turn. "We will do whatever we want, unless it is forbidden."