Armenian Justice Minister Grigor Minasyan submitted his resignation after some two-dozen ruling party Civil Contract MPS circulated a petition demanding that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan fire him over what they described as lack of progress in reforms.

The MPs were angered when Minasyan appointed Sirvard Gevorgyan as his deputy. They claimed Gevoryan was sympathetic to former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan now heading the main opposition Hayastan alliance.

Gevorgyan resigned last Thursday in response to the petition to sack her boss.

Minasyan, that’s same day, blamed her resignation on “extremely unfair and petty attacks by some individuals.” That charge further infuriated certain members of the government.

Minasyan, addressing the accusation of slow progress under his tenure, said ministers are “policy-makers” and that the implementation of steps to restore justice in the country falls on law enforcement and the courts.

“In the parliamentary system of governance, it will be difficult to hold the position of a minister if you do not have positive cooperation with even one deputy. I was informed that I have a problem with about two dozen deputies of the Civil Agreement faction,” Minasyan wrote in his resignation statement, adding he could have stayed on and fought but decided to return to the private sector and pursue the cause of justice from there.