Armenia's deputy speaker faces reports of political retirement

Armenian Parliament Vice-Speaker Hakob Arshakyan may step away from the ruling Civil Contract party and withdraw from active political life.

As Caliber.Az notes, citing the newspaper Hraparak, sources close to Arshakyan suggest he could be placed on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s informal “blacklist.”

The paper views his exclusion from the party’s most recent congress — reportedly over failure to pay the 30,000-dram membership fee — as an indirect sign of tensions between him and the leadership.

When asked directly about the possibility of resignation, Arshakyan replied: “Everything I will say, I will say publicly,” offering no further comment. While he did not confirm the reports, he also did not deny them.

Arshakyan has served as deputy speaker of the National Assembly since 2021. Before that, he held the post of Minister of Transportation, Communications and Information Technologies.

By Tamilla Hasanova