Discussions at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs: Who Will Be the Minister?

According to the 168 Hours newspaper, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia is expected to be entrusted to Zara Batoyan, who is currently performing the duties of the Deputy Minister. This information has particularly excited international organizations providing social services in our country. Moreover, they have urged journalists collaborating with them not to disrupt Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's sole candidate in the social networks by 'hurling' harsh criticisms at their ally Batoyan until the appointment becomes a reality.

From behind-the-scenes discussions within the ministry, we learn that this news was being discussed as early as New Year's Eve, and the staff has unexpectedly received it better than the media-reported potential appointment of another Deputy Minister, Arsen Manukyan.

The point is that former Minister Mane Tandilyan's first deputy, Arsen Manukyan, has managed to provoke several internal conflicts during this brief period. The acting minister has strained relations with department heads and the leaders of subordinate entities, and there is even a lack of personal communication. In the two months of executing ministerial functions, Manukyan has found himself entangled in legal disputes, accused of issuing illegal orders against one of the employees.

According to our source in the ministry, the acting minister has particularly targeted long-serving staff members who remember well how, years ago, the ministry had to undergo structural changes to get rid of Arsen Manukyan—dissolving the legal department only to restore it again after some time, but without this specialist.

Whether Arsen Manukyan will continue to serve as a deputy minister after Zara Batoyan's appointment remains to be seen. Inside the ministry, there is self-organization to prevent that from happening; they say, 'We intended to stage a protest to ensure a minister doesn't come, and as for Batoyan as a deputy, she knows well the difficulty the heads of departments are experiencing coping with that individual's cold war to buy time.'

For more details, see today's edition of the newspaper.