Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced Simonian’s appointment during a weekly meeting of his cabinet. He gave no clear reason for his decision to replace the current secretary, Armen Grigorian, who has held that position for over eight years.

“It’s not that I’m dissatisfied with Armen Grigorian’s work,” he told journalists after the cabinet meeting. “But it’s not that I’m so satisfied with my own work that I consider it perfect. I think such decisions are normal in politics.”

Pashinian said that Grigorian has turned down his offer to join his staff. He did not specify the position offered to the latter.

A longtime Pashinian ally, Simonian served as parliament speaker from 2021-2026. He expected to retain his post after the disputed parliamentary elections held on June 7 and won by Civil Contract. However, the party’s governing body designated instead one of his deputies, Ruben Rubinian, as new speaker on June 25.

Pashinian is believed to have engineered the unexpected decision that led Simonian to refuse to take up his seat in Armenia’s new parliament.

Simonian was dogged by controversy throughout his five-year tenure. In particular, he infamously ordered his bodyguards to catch and overpower a heckler in Yerevan before spitting at the man’s face in 2023. A year later, Simonian publicly insulted a Nagorno-Karabakh activist who berated him and other top state officials during an official ceremony.

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