Ten days after triumphing in snap general elections, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step alliance named late on Wednesday the speaker of Armenia’s new parliament and two of his three deputies.
It officially confirmed that Ararat Mirzoyan, a close associate of Pashinian, will resign as first deputy prime minister to become president of the National Assembly. Two other senior My Step figures, Lena Nazarian and Alen Simonian, will take over as the parliament’s vice-speakers.
It was also announced that outgoing Culture Minister Lilit Makunts will lead the bloc’s 88-member faction in the 132-seat assembly.
The announcements were made after a late-night meeting of the faction chaired by Pashinian.
Mirzoyan said that he himself decided to leave the government and return to the parliament where he held a seat until this spring’s popular uprising that brought Pashinian’s team to power. He also cited “structural changes” which Pashinian is expected to make in his cabinet after being formally reappointed as prime minister next month.
Mirzoyan, 39, dismissed critics’ claims that most of the newly elected parliamentary representing My Step are young and inexperienced individuals who can hardly draft good laws or hold the executive branch in check.
“Please do not associate young age with a lack of experience,” he told reporters. “We have seen many experienced scoundrels, election falsifiers, oligarchs and the like.”
Under Armenian law, the third post of vice-speaker is reserved for the parliamentary opposition. It will therefore be given to a member of one of the two other political parties that have entered the new parliament: Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Bright Armenia. They will have 26 and 18 parliament seats respectively.
The two parties will thus vie for the parliament post. The BHK said on Thursday that it will nominate a candidate in the next few days.
The BHK candidate will be challenged by one of Bright Armenia’s leaders, Mane Tandilian. The latter has served as minister of labor and social affairs in Pashinian’s government.
Tandilian admitted that the third vice-speaker will also be essentially chosen by the My Step faction.
The BHK and Bright Armenia avoided criticizing Pashinian during the election campaign, leading some observers to question their opposition credentials. Instead they attacked each other. Bitter accusations traded by them have intensified since the December 9 elections.
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