Ruben Rubinyan moves to replace outgoing Armenian parliament speaker's staff

Ruben Rubinyan, a ruling Civil Contract party lawmaker nominated to become Armenia’s next parliament speaker, has begun issuing a series of administrative orders, including the dismissal of several aides and advisers to outgoing National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan.

Rubinyan has already ordered the distribution of bonus funds allocated for the National Assembly among lawmakers, state employees and other parliament staffers.

He has also dismissed several members of Simonyan’s office, including aides Karlen Greyan and Zina Chalikyan, advisers Ashkhen Hayrapetyan, Hovhannes Nalbandyan and Aharon Nersisyan, as well as referent Edgar Muradyan.

The latest dismissal involved Simonyan’s spokesperson, Movses Harutyunyan, who announced earlier that he was ending his work at the National Assembly following the conclusion of Simonyan’s tenure as speaker. Harutyunyan thanked journalists and editors for their cooperation during his time in office.