YEREVAN — Former Artik Mayor Mkhitar Varagyan has officially launched his campaign for the upcoming local self-government elections on October 25, running under the ticket of the Free Democrats party.

Varagyan, a non-partisan politician who previously led Artik—a major municipal center in Armenia's northwestern Shirak Province famous for its unique pink tufa stone reserves—seeks to reclaim leadership of the consolidated community following a narrow defeat in 2021. Varagyan previously served as a National Assembly deputy across two parliamentary convocations from 2003 to 2012.

The race marks a renewed showdown between Varagyan and the ruling Civil Contract (CC) party, led locally by Ananik Voskanyan.

In the December 2021 elections, Civil Contract secured 41.61% of the vote (eleven mandates) compared to 23.38% (six mandates) won by Varagyan’s former United Artik alliance. Because Civil Contract fell short of an outright majority, it formed a governing coalition with local factions to rule the town, which sits on the slopes of Mount Aragats, roughly 27 kilometers southeast of Gyumri. Varagyan attributed his 2021 loss to the structural consolidation that merged 23 rural villages into the Artik municipality, shifting the voter demographic heavily toward the ruling party.

"We have changed our strategy," Varagyan stated, noting that his campaign is now heavily focused on rural settlements where infrastructure is lagging. He strongly criticized the incumbent administration's management of a twenty-billion-dram budget, alleging severe water quality issues in villages such as Mets Mantash, Pokr Mantash, Arevshat, Spandaryan, and Geghanist. When questioned about his own track record—including 69 recorded absences from Council of Elders meetings over the last five years—Varagyan dismissed the sessions as a rubber-stamp process for the ruling coalition.

The campaign has not been without complications.

Varagyan revealed that his Free Democrats list shrunk from 34 to 26 candidates before registration due to unexpected departures. He alleged that candidates and their families have faced significant administrative pressure and threats of job dismissal from regional authorities, creating a climate of fear among community-run organizations and schools. Running under the slogan "Let’s Build and Prosper Together,"

Varagyan maintained that his team remains professional and uncompromised, expressing readiness to form post-election coalitions with all "constructive" political forces.