Why the new governor of Shirak was dismissed from the position of deputy minister of health

Despite Nikol Pashinyan frequently making personnel changes following the 44-day Artsakh war, these changes resemble more of a mere reshuffling, with former officials simply acquiring new positions or swapping ministries. A striking example of this is the appointment of former Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan as the head of the government staff, with Deputy Minister Anahit Avanesyan taking his place. In other words, Nikol Pashinyan is not so much dismissing unsuccessful personnel as appointing them to new roles; the same was true for Arayik Harutyunyan. Under public pressure, Harutyunyan was relieved of his duties as Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport, only to be appointed as the Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister.

Yesterday, during a government meeting, Hovhannes Harutyunyan was appointed as the governor of Shirak, replacing Tigran Petrosyan. The newly appointed governor is not a newcomer and has quite an interesting history. It is worth noting that Harutyunyan was previously the Deputy Minister of Health, working alongside Torosyan. The newspaper noted the reasons for Harutyunyan’s dismissal from the deputy minister position back on October 16, 2019. Just days before his dismissal, he had clashes in parliament with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ararat Mirzoyan, who remarked, 'I would suggest that from now on, the National Assembly should consider less to show its place or teach work; let the executive branch do its job, while the National Assembly can envision how it works.'

However, this could not have been the only reason for his dismissal; his father became involved in actions related to the 'Armenia' All-Armenian Foundation within the National Security Service and ended up under the scrutiny of law enforcement. This was precisely why the deputy minister was removed from his position. Now, a year later, Hovhannes Harutyunyan is once again being appointed to a new position.

These personnel changes and the repeated appointments of the same individuals may indicate two things: either the authorities have a personnel issue, or very few people are willing to work with the authorities, forcing them to engage in personnel shifts to create the impression that they are making changes.

This is reported by the newspaper 'Zhoghovurd'.