Armenia: Pashinyan’s cabinet reshuffle promoting gender equity
A third of cabinet posts now held by women.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is making history as he refashions his government by promoting gender equity in the top echelons of power. For the first time, women will hold at least one-third of ministry portfolios.
The reshuffle began in mid-November with the forced resignations of six top officials responsible for overseeing law enforcement and the judiciary. The highest profile replacement so far is Arpine Sargsyan, who was elevated to serve as Interior Minister after holding a deputy ministerial role.
The appointment comes amid widespread speculation about Pashinyan's motives for the government shake-up. Ostensibly, he has said he wants to reinvigorate efforts to contain corruption, but his critics contend he is trying to reset his image before calling snap elections. The process of filling all the vacancies created by the mass resignations is ongoing.
Some of his moves to date have generated controversy and criticism, in particular the appointment of his godson, David Khudatyan, as minister of territorial administration and infrastructure. In that post, Khudatyan will oversee the implementation of lucrative construction contracts.
Encouraging women’s participation in politics has been a policy goal of Pashinyan’s since he gained power in 2018 via a popular protest movement dubbed the Velvet Revolution. “This is a guarantee of the development of our country, because not using the huge potential of women means being short-sighted,” Pashinyan said in one of his early speeches.
In 2019, Pashinyan noted there was just a single female minister in the Armenian government; now there are four. Besides Sargsyan, the other female ministers are: Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan, who assumed her role in January 2021; Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan, appointed in November 2024; and Education and Culture Minister Zhanna Andreasyan, who has served since December 2022.
In addition, the country’s Human Rights Defender and Prosecutor General are also women; Anahit Manasyan and Anna Vardapetyan, respectively. Vardapetyan’s appointment as the nation’s top prosecutor in 2022 has helped focus public attention on the pervasive problem of domestic violence.
Female representation in the legislature has likewise increased during Pashinyan’s tenure, with women now comprising 37 percent of MPs. The percentage is partly the product of a gender quota for MPs that mandated at least 30 percent of parliamentary seats be held by women by 2020.
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