YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—After completing the formation of his government, Armenia’s new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reaffirmed his pledges to carry out sweeping reforms and push for fresh parliamentary elections on Sunday.
The three deputy prime ministers and 17 ministers handpicked by Pashinyan were formally appointed by President Armen Sarkissian on Friday and Saturday. Four of them held senior positions in the country’s previous government that was swept from power by nationwide massive protests led by Pashinyan.
The new cabinet includes experienced technocrats, young Pashinyan associates and other political appointees representing the three minority factions in the Armenian parliament that helped to install the 42-year-old protest leader as prime minister on May 8.
Businessman Gagik Tsarukyan’s alliance, the second largest parliamentary force, nominated Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and the ministers of energy, transport and communications, emergency situations, and sports and youth affairs. Grigoryan is a 46-year-old banker.
Pashinyan also reached a de facto power-sharing deal with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), which was allied to former President and Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian until his resignation on April 23.
Dashnaktsutyun will be represented in the new government by Minister for Economic Development Artsvik Minasyan and Agriculture Minister Artur Khachatryan. Minasyan served as environment minister while Khachatryan was the governor of the northwestern Shirak province until this month.
The two other deputy prime ministers, Ararat Mirzoyan and Tigran Avinyan, are senior members of Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party. Avinyan, 29, is apparently the youngest vice-premier in Armenia’s history.
Two other Civil Contract figures, Arayik Harutiunyan and Suren Papikian, were appointed as ministers of education and local government respectively.
Pashinyan also gave two ministerial portfolios to top representatives of the Hanrapetutyun (Republic) and Bright Armenian parties making up, together with Civil Contract, the Yelk alliance. Hanrapetutyun’s Artak Zeynalyan was named justice minister while Bright Armenia’s Mane Tandilyan will manage the Armenian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Three other other, more important cabinet posts were given to non-partisan figures. One of them, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Armenia’s ambassador to the United Nations until now, will serve as foreign minister. The 52-year-old career diplomat was the country’s deputy foreign minister from 2011-2014.
The new Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan worked as minister for emergency situations in the previous government. Tonoyan, 49, was Armenia’s first deputy defense minister from 2010-2017. A graduate of Russia’s Military-Diplomatic Academy, he represented the Armenian military at the NATO headquarters in Brussels from 1998-2007.
Pashinyan’s choice of finance minister is Atom Janjughazian, a longtime deputy finance minister and head of the Armenian state treasury.
Pashinyan met with the newly appointed cabinet members on Sunday, saying that his “government of accord” must strive to live up to the huge expectations of the country’s population that has overwhelmingly supported his protest movement. That, he said, requires a “new style, new philosophy, new culture” of work by all government agencies.
“Please get down to business, familiarize yourself with the current state of affairs today so that we don’t lose time,” he said. “There are operational issues that need to be solved as soon as possible.”
“The public must feel that this is a government formed by it and accountable to it,” added the former journalist.
Pashinyan reiterated in that regard that his government must embark on sweeping “reforms in various areas.” He pledged earlier to democratize Armenia, strengthen the rule of law, separate business from government and radically improve the broader investment climate.
Pashinyan also told his ministers to start working on the government’s comprehensive policy program which he has to submit to the parliament within the next three weeks. Its approval by lawmakers would amount to a vote of confidence.
Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia, which still holds the majority of parliament seats, has signaled its readiness to back the program despite its serious misgivings about Pashinyan’s premiership. The program’s rejection by the National Assembly would pave the way for snap general elections.
Pashinyan said on Sunday that the conduct of such polls will be his cabinet’s top “political priority.” But he again did not say just when he thinks they should be held.
Without snap elections now the national assembly and the premier will be in chronic deadlock. The ARF got off easy and the jury is still out on how popular or effective it will be in its reincarnated role.
The ARF is undeserving to even be in the same room as that group. Pashinyan was unfortunately obligated to throw them a bone or two since they did decide to betray Serj and jump ship last minute. The problem now is the old adage “if she does it for you she will do it to you”, when will the ARF jump ship next when it’s time to betray Pashinyan? Flip floppers have no place in that room. ARF saw it was powerless to instigate regime change no matter how much money they threw at the problem. Next they try joining the Republicans and hope to gain traction a bit, then Pashinyan pulled it off and like jackals feasting on a decaying carcass, they betrayed Serj and Co. and switched sides overnight. This type of duplicity is dangerous to have around for any government. ARF’s already limited credibility went down the drain, next elections, expect zero votes for parliament for ARF. The people are done with this type of behavior.
This political game of chess is not likely to end in a stalemate. There will be winners and losers at the end of all of this… Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia has more pieces on the chess board, and is already thinking a few moves ahead, and we all know how good Armenians can be at chess, so they’re not to be underestimated. This would be Pashinyan’s first and last mistake.