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Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party has been struggling to pick the right candidate to fill the role of Armenia’s next justice minister for three weeks now.

The number of candidates from Civil Contract, who have not been backed by a majority of its board members, will soon exceed ten. They include Arpi Davoyan, Suren Grigoryan, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, Armen Khachatryan, Alexander Sirunyan and others.

Friday’s media reports suggest that Civil Contract is considering two new candidates for the vacant post, including Deputy Interior Minister Arpine Sargsyan and Executive Director of the Children of Armenia Fund Liana Ghaltaghchyan.

In an interview to Panorama.am on Friday, lawyer Yervand Varosyan claimed that no decent lawyer would agree to work in Pashinyan’s government.

“The next minister will not be engaged in coordinating and regulating the judiciary, filling the legislature gaps or initiating disciplinary proceedings against judges in accordance with the law, rather than at the behest of the authorities. Naturally, a lawyer with self-respect has nothing to do there,” he stated, adding the new minister will have to fulfil Pashinyan’s “whims” aimed at extending his grip on power.

Meanwhile, Varosyan said the rejection of Arpi Davoyan’s candidacy by the ruling party’s board members was strange given that she met Civil Contract’s requirements for the job. The lawyer alleged some “games” within the ruling party over the next justice minister.

He accused Pashinyan’s government of crackdown on Armenia’s judicial independence which was tainted.

“There is no independent judicial system in Armenia. Along with the Prosecutor’s Office, it has turned into a repressive tool. Pashinyan’s minister will obviously not be dealing with the issue, because his government needs it to hold on to power, while the next minister will make sure that the judiciary remains under government control,” the lawyer added.