On 18 April the Armenian parliament approved the first package of bills that makes amendments to the law on the structure of the country’s government, narrowing the number of ministries from 17 to 12. The function of the First Vice Prime Minister has also been abolished, reports Vestnik Kavkaza. The downsizing of the government has been on the agenda since Pashinyan took office in order to make the government more efficient.

The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies, as well as the Ministry of Diaspora will be abolished.

The Ministry of Diaspora is put under the Prime Minister's office as the main commissioner for diaspora issues office. The Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs will be merged with the Ministry of Education and Science and be named the “Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport”. The ministries of Agriculture, Economic Development and Investments will be merged into the Economic Ministry, and the Ministry of Energy Infrastructures will be part of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development. The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology will be renamed the Ministry of Industry and High Technologies. The bill also means that Armenia’s police, National Security Service (NSS) and State Revenue Committee (SRC) would remain subordinate to the prime minister, rather than his cabinet. They were also directly controlled by Armenia’s presidents under the previous, presidential system of government.

The opposition expressed harsh criticism on the newly adopted bill. Lawmakers from the Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Bright Armenia (LHK) parties rejected the government bill setting a new structure of Pashinian’s cabinet. Marukian, who leads the opposition LHK, denounced Pashinian’s adherence to the “super prime-ministerial” system which he likened to a “suit tailored for Serzh Sargsyan.” “Why have you put on Serzh Sarksyan’s suit?” he said during a parliamentary debate on the bill. The BHK was more concerned about the resulting layoffs of many civil servants caused by the planned downsizing of the government.

Lilit Makunts, the parliamentary leader of Pashinyan’s My Step bloc, rejected the criticism, saying no government in the world would draft a bill limiting its own powers. Makunts also said that My Step is ready to draft a new legislation, together with the opposition factions, which would require the police and NSS chiefs to regularly answer questions from parliamentary deputies.

Former head of the Central Bank of Armenia Bagrat Asatryan, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the government was excessively overstaffed under Serzh Sargsyan. "I am convinced that having 17 ministries and 3 ministers without portfolio is too much for a country like Armenia. This inefficient structure was approved by the Republicans when they wanted to create the Yerevan khanate: Sargsyan acting as a khan, and the rest as errand boys. The past years have shown that such a structure of the Cabinet did not contribute to economic growth or any solution of social, economic and other problems", recalled Asatryan. He is still not sure if the administrative reforms are perfect, but “the principle they are based on itself is correct", concluded Asataryan.

Ex-mayor of Yerevan Vahagn Khachatryan, in turn, noted that the abolished Ministry of Energy did de facto not perform any functions. "Our energy system is almost 100% privatized, not counting nuclear power plants and high-voltage lines. The duties of regulating energy issues can be carried out without creating a ministry of energy. In my opinion, they should establish a separate infrastructure ministry, which would take over both functions of the Energy Ministry and other departments," Khachatryan said. He also supported the abolishment of the Ministry of Agriculture. “If we talk about the Ministry of Agriculture, then yes, the sector constitutes 15% of GDP, 400.000 people are working in the agricultural sector, but after the privatization of land in 1991, Armenia's agriculture has not been developed at all. We do not have modern agricultural technologies; people in this sector are paid less than the average salary of the country. Labor productivity is very low, and the Ministry of Agriculture can do nothing to fix it", noted the ex-Mayor of Yerevan. Like Asataryan, Khachatryan as well warns that the reforms might not be flawless, especially with the creation of "two monster ministries" which might not be effectively managed.