Names of Replacements for Vagharshak Harutyunyan Are Circulating

According to ‘Hraparak’, discussions are ongoing among the ruling elite regarding the composition of the future government, with reports suggesting that Vagharshak Harutyunyan is set to resign from his position as Minister of Defense.

At this point, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's choice for replacement appears to be Arshak Karapetyan, the first deputy chief of the Armed Forces General Staff, who was appointed to this position on April 7 this year after being relieved from his advisory role to the Prime Minister. Arshak Karapetyan holds the military rank of Major General and has participated in combat operations. Prior to 2016, he was the head of the intelligence directorate of the RA Armed Forces General Staff. After the April four-day war, on April 26, he was among three high-ranking military officials who were dismissed by a decree from Serzh Sargsyan.

On December 18, 2018, Arshak Karapetyan was appointed as an advisor to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, reportedly as a reward for testifying against Robert Kocharian in the March 1 case.

As for Vagharshak Harutyunyan, it’s not ruled out that he may be appointed as the secretary of the Security Council. Recently, there have also been active rumors that former Artsakh Defense Army commander Samvel Babayan could be appointed as Minister of Defense. However, Nikol Pashinyan likely does not want to damage relations with Russia by appointing someone to such a strategically important position who has been declared a ‘persona non grata’ by Russia.