Robert Kocharian told journalists in Yerevan on 19 March that he considers it inexpedient to amend the constitution to provide for the election of the mayor of Yerevan, RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service reported. The mayor of Yerevan is currently appointed by the president. Kocharian reasoned that the capital is home to one-third of Armenia\'s population, and that \"a great potential for conflict\" could emerge if a mayor were elected who represented a political party in opposition to the president and government. Robert Nazarian, whom Kocharian fired from the post of mayor in July, argued several months later that the mayor\'s powers are limited, and that the office will remain ineffectual until the municipality is headed by an elected mayor who is accountable to the population. (RFE/RL)