“Zhoghovurd” daily writes:

“After Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s answers yesterday, there is almost no doubt in the government circles that the issue of the further tenure of the Prime Minister’s Staff Araik Harutyunyan has already been resolved. Although Pashinyan did not confirm or deny the expected personnel changes, his wordings gave a new reason to assume that Arayik Harutyunyan will not be reappointed to the same position in the new government.

The journalist of “Zhoghovurd” newspaper asked Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan yesterday if he was informed about Araik Harutyunyan, which angered him, and if that is why the question of not re-appointing him as the head of the Prime Minister’s office is being discussed.

In response, Nikol Pashinyan stated that no information was reported to him regarding Araik Harutyunyan and added that the same answer also applies to the second question. However, it is noteworthy that the prime minister did not in any way deny or confirm the main question: will Araik Harutyunyan be reappointed to his position or not.

“Zhoghovurd” daily wrote earlier that Nikol Pashinyan was dissatisfied with the work of the pre-election headquarters of the CP, which was headed by Arayik Harutyunyan. After that dissatisfaction, Harutyunyan went on a long vacation until July 27 and is now in the United States of America.

At the same time, government officials continue to provide “Zhoghovurd” daily with new information about what deepened the Prime Minister’s dissatisfaction. Accordingly, during the pre-election period, Arayik Harutyunyan, in the interest of the party, established contacts with representatives of the criminal world, without prior agreement with Nikol Pashinyan, which became one of the reasons for the prime minister’s anger.

In addition, discussions about the effectiveness of the pre-election headquarters’ work do not stop. According to our official sources, Nikol Pashinyan was informed before the elections that the “Civil Agreement” has around 65 percent support and can even secure a constitutional majority. However, the results of the elections showed a completely different picture. the ruling power received about 49 percent of the votes, about 60 thousand votes of the PAP, according to the publication, actually “stealing”, which caused serious dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister both regarding the work of the headquarters and the credibility of the information presented to him.

It is noteworthy that yesterday “Hraparak” also wrote that one of the high-ranking government officials turned to the Armenian criminal authorities living in the United States of America in order to get support in the transfer of illegal funds. After that publication, “Zhoghovurd” daily newspaper received many messages from government circles that it refers to Arayik Harutyunyan.

According to the same sources, Arayik Harutyunyan has been coordinating the activities of mining giants, including those companies in which the state has a stake, in recent years. According to these reports, his influence extended not only to management, but also to control processes, including through inspection bodies. However, this information has not been officially confirmed in any way.

“Zhoghovurd” daily tried to contact Araik Harutyunyan in order to get his position on the presented information. We made reasonable efforts, but could not make contact. His close circle only informed that Araik Harutyunyan is in the United States of America on vacation. No other comments were made.

Let’s add that until the recent developments, both in the CP and outside the government, there was such an image of Araik Harutyunyan that he is considered one of the most respectable officials of the government and farthest away from various shady processes. However, in recent days, it is the government teammates who are continuously leaking various information that Harutyunyan was involved in some behind-the-scenes and controversial processes, which, according to them, became the cause of Nikol Pashinyan’s displeasure.

There is almost no doubt in the official circles that the prime minister has decided to replace Arayik Harutyunyan with Lilit Makunts, the chief adviser to the prime minister.

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