The decision of the prime minister was published on the government’s official website on Monday.
In a Facebook post earlier today Marukian wrote: “At the suggestion of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, I will be involved in Armenia’s foreign policy domain, assuming the status of ambassador at large.”
“In this difficult period for our state and region, I will continue to serve the Republic of Armenia with high responsibility and promote its national and state interests,” Marukian added.
The 41-year-old lawyer and politician is the leader of the Bright Armenia party and served as a lawmaker in the parliaments of three convocations from 2012 to 2021.
In 2017-2018 Marukian was part of a political alliance led by Pashinian, then an opposition lawmaker.
After Pashinian and his political alliance came to power and consolidated their positions in 2018 snap parliamentary elections Marukian became one of the most vocal critics of the government in the parliament that was dissolved in May 2021 following a political crisis stemming from Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Marukian’s party failed to poll enough votes to enter the next parliament in snap elections in June 2021 in which it campaigned on a platform critical of both Pashinian and the former governments of presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian.