"Armenia's New Pashinyan Government: Stability, Institutional Renewal, and Geopolitical Challenges" by Carlo Coppola
Questo articolo di Carlo Coppola dal titolo "Armenia, il nuovo governo Pashinyan: stabilità, ricambio istituzionale e sfide geopolitiche" è apparso nella versione italiana sul giornale "In città - Giovinazzo" diretto da Papas Antonio Calisi al seguente link:
YEREVAN — With the inauguration of the National Assembly's IX legislature on Sunday, August 2nd, the new institutional framework of the Republic of Armenia under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has taken shape. After years in which the state remained subordinate to the Armenian Apostolic Church, with the latter directly interfering in national politics, the Catholicos of All Armenians was, for the first time, not invited to bless the assembly with an address. One of the defining themes of Armenian politics in the years ahead will therefore be the drafting of a modern Concordat between Church and State — a step nearly every other nation has taken over the past two centuries. In Armenia's case, setting aside the particular friction between the Catholicos and the Prime Minister personally, the process is bound to prove more painful, since certain political forces continue to invoke the Church's values for their own strategic purposes.
The new executive is marked by substantial continuity in its strategic ministries, paired with a handful of targeted personnel changes designed to strengthen administrative action ahead of the complex economic, social, and security challenges facing the country.
The National Assembly remains composed of 107 deputies, with the ruling Civil Contract party retaining an absolute majority of 64 seats — sufficient to sustain the executive's agenda and pass its principal planned reforms. Ruben Rubinyan, previously Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Armenia's special representative in normalization talks with Turkey, has been elected Speaker of Parliament, while the cabinet retains continuity across its main portfolios. Hayk Konjoryan was elected First Deputy Speaker. A second deputy speaker, put forward by the majority, and a third, nominated by the opposition, are expected to be elected in the coming days.
The Pashinyan government registered a single change at the ministerial level on August 3, 2026, with Davit Tadevosyan appointed Minister of High-Tech Industry, replacing outgoing minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan. All other ministers were reconfirmed in their posts. In parallel, part of the deputy ministerial structure was also renewed to ensure greater administrative efficiency and continuity in policy implementation. Within the Prime Minister's own staff, Arayik Harutyunyan — elected to the National Assembly — was succeeded as Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister's Office by Lilit Makunts, formerly Armenia's Ambassador to the United States.
The new government team must now confront some of the most sensitive files shaping the country's future: negotiations on a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, border delimitation, the strengthening of national security, and the gradual diversification of economic and strategic relations with the European Union and other Western partners. Against this backdrop, the solid parliamentary majority stands as one of the key instruments the Pashinyan government intends to rely on as it pursues its domestic reform agenda and consolidates Armenia's role in a regional landscape still marked by significant tension.
Carlo Coppola
