In essence, there is no government official whom we can point at and say he or she has failed. This is what Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a March 19 press conference, responding to the question as to whether or not the fact that most government officials were among those who started the revolution and now their actions spark public discontent doesn’t constrain the Prime Minister to dismiss those government officials.

As far as discontent is concerned, according to Pashinyan, nobody can be more discontent with those government officials than him. “However, when they say those government officials have failed, nobody states exactly what they have failed to do. In essence, the government hasn’t failed in any sector. In essence, there is no government official whom we can point at and say he or she has failed. If a certain government official fails, I won’t feel constrained to dismiss that government official. Are there omissions and shortcomings? Yes, there are, but there are omissions and shortcomings in all of our actions, but we can’t dismiss every official that has omissions.”

Touching upon the scandal over the State Revenue Committee and public discontent, Pashinyan stated that the current public pressure and criticism needs to be used as a tool for making the government’s efforts fruitful. “They tell the government to cut the rewards and give the money to others. Nobody says that the State Revenue Committee has to work so that pensioners receive their pensions and others receive their salaries or benefits. Public servants need to receive decent salaries. We can’t hope that officials with low salaries can provide high-quality service to the public."