Ani Samsonyan: “We will do more to establish fair administration in Yerevan”

Our interlocutor is Ani Samsonyan, who is in the 4th place of the Luys Alliance electoral list in the Yerevan Council of Elders elections, and is also a member of the “Yelq” faction of the current Council of Elders. She says there are many members of the Luys team who are trying to continue the work done over the course of a year, which is interrupted by new elections.

She was born in 1990 in Yerevan. In 2011 she graduated from Department of Journalism of the State Pedagogical University, after Kh. Abovyan 2013, Department of International Relations of the International Scientific-Educational Center of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2010-2012 she worked as a researcher at the H. Sharambeyan Folk Music Center, in 2012-2013 at ArmNews TV Company as a journalist. She is the Spokesperson of the “LusavorArmenian” party.

– What has changed in Yerevan during this one year and how have you been changed?

First of all, I think that the elderly Yelq faction of Yerevan Council has greatly changed the attitude of the Yerevan residents to the Council of Elders. We have activated the gray and indefinite existence of the Council of Elders through our consistent inquiries, discussions, and created a debate platform. Urban power became very vigilant and attentive. If earlier the people in the Council of Elders understood the ones solving the problem of the garage, we broke that stereotype. Citizens realized that a council member could listen to them and solve their problems. The second is that those who have applied to us during this one year and have managed to achieve joint results, increased confidence in the Council and increased self-esteem in seeking their own problems and seeking solutions.

– A year ago, during a conversation with WomenNet.am, on the threshold of the previous elections, you mentioned Yerevan’s priorities for development, decentralization, as well as landscaping. What will you mark today? 

Yes, decentralization and greening in Yerevan remain on the agenda of the problems. The five-year program of development of Yerevan has projects for the construction of overpass roads. I have to say that no serious steps have been taken to decentralize Yerevan. Business, cultural and entertaining life continues to be concentrated in the central administrative district of Yerevan… This approach should change and we will make offers for it.

– What are the problems of Yerevan women and children and what solutions do you see?

I think the most important problem for women, and in general, the city’s population is the Yerevan Polyclinics. They are old, the equipment is worn out, and I must say that they have serious management problems. We had to deal with this issue. Based on numerous complaints, our focus was on polyclinics No. 16 and No. 19

– “What do you think, will the new Council of Elders, taking into account the new political realities, differ from the previous one, and can you as a candidate promise to Yerevan to make significant changes in its life?

In one year, all the citizens who addressed us to solve their problems, almost all of them mentioned that they were unfair to them and that justice should be restored. I am convinced that the new Council will function not only within the principles and purposes of the current Government, but will do more for Yerevan residents to be truly desirable and establish fair administration.

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