Armenia's parliament has elected Ruben Rubinyan, a senior member of the ruling Civil Contract party, a longtime ally of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Yerevan's special envoy in talks with Turkey, as the new speaker of the National Assembly.

Rubinyan was elected with 63 votes in favour and 28 against. Ninety-one of the parliament's 105 lawmakers took part in the vote, according to Lilit Minasyan, chair of the counting commission.

The opposition Armenia Alliance had announced in advance that it would boycott the speaker's election, while the Strong Armenia faction voted against the ruling party's nominee.

Before becoming speaker, Rubinyan had served as deputy speaker of the National Assembly since August 2021. He also continues to serve as Armenia's special representative in negotiations with Turkey aimed at normalising bilateral relations.

The 36-year-old politician is one of Pashinyan's longtime political allies and a founding member of the Civil Contract party. Between 2015 and 2017, he served on the party's governing board and was its spokesperson.

Following Armenia's 2018 change of government, Rubinyan was appointed deputy foreign minister. Later that year, he entered parliament on the electoral list of Pashinyan's My Step alliance, where he served on the parliamentary committee on foreign relations. In 2021, he was re-elected to parliament on the Civil Contract party list and became deputy speaker.

Rubinyan graduated from Yerevan State University's Faculty of International Relations. He later studied Politics and Security at University College London (UCL) and European Studies at Poland's Jagiellonian University. He served in the Armenian Armed Forces between 2012 and 2014.

Rubinyan's appointment is also significant in the context of Armenia's efforts to normalise relations with Turkey. As Yerevan's chief negotiator with Ankara, he now assumes one of the country's highest state offices.

The first sitting of Armenia's newly elected ninth-convocation National Assembly also triggered the constitutional procedure for the government's resignation. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his cabinet will remain in office in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed.