Lilit Replaces Arpine, But What About Lena?

The newspaper "Hraparak" reports: "On March 25, the National Assembly Council finally confirmed the composition and leaders of the new parliamentary friendship groups, which resemble the 'copy-paste' of the Republican party's friendship groups in terms of quantity and main directions. However, the 'nuances' lie elsewhere. Lilit Makunts has been appointed as the head of the Armenia-US friendship group, which was previously led by Arpine Hovhannisyan, meaning that Vice Speaker Lena Nazaryan has not been entrusted with this important direction. Incidentally, Makunts has also taken over another group led by Arpine, the Armenia-UK group, from Lena.

Ruben Rubinyan, who is 'substituting' Armen Ashotyanu in various positions, has become the head of the Armenia-Germany friendship group, which was previously headed by Ashotyanu. Alen Simonyan has consolidated his positions by becoming the co-chair of the most important group, the Armenia-Russia one, and moreover, has also taken over the leadership of one of the key directions, the Armenia-Israel group.

The newcomers have continued the good tradition of their predecessors by appointing opposition members to the leadership positions of the friendship groups, albeit with a new interpretation. The seasoned Edmond Marukyan has been entrusted with the Armenia-Bahrain, Armenia-Luxembourg groups, while Naira Zohrabyan has been given responsibility for the Arab world, leading the Armenia-Egypt and Armenia-Jordan groups," noted our source in the National Assembly."