Doubts were expressed about the nature and objectives of our revolution. Some felt that this revolution was triggered by the global challengers resisting them in our region. Others were asking: “If they are not behind this revolution, who else could have done it?” The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, noted about this as he addressed the general debate of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, on Wednesday in New York.
Pashinyan stated that he would like to reiterate from this high tribune that the velvet revolution in Armenia has been carried out by its proud citizens, and as a manifestation of their will to reject corruption, abuse of power, monopoly of economic and political power, perpetual electoral fraud and political manipulation. He added that one should not consider the expression of the will of the Armenian people, which holds supreme sovereignty in the country, in view of the competition of global powers.
Pashinyan noted that the political transformations were aimed at realizing the dream of having a free, democratic, and happy country—a dream that was born at the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s, and which brought independence to Armenian people.
The PM said that the non-violent, velvet Armenian revolution proved that democratic change is possible in the modern world. But, as per Pashinyan, the revolution was only the beginning of their mission, and probably the easiest phase. Now, in his words, they are in another, more important and difficult phase of their mission, as they must prove that democratic transformation in Armenia is irreversible.
Pashinyan said they are proud that they already have some results, as the country’s economy is growing steadily and rapidly, the very important ideological transformation that took place in the country contributed to this growth, the individual effort of every citizen is important, this idea is the most important driving force of Armenia’s economic revolution, and the most important mission of their government is to inspire and persuade their citizens to believe in their talent and ability to make real change.
The PM said individual efforts have been the key formula for the success of Armenia’s political revolution, before the revolution there was only a small group of people who believed that individual efforts could bring about political change in the country, but today this is an imperative idea for the overwhelming majority of Armenian citizens, and therefore the common goal is to carry out the economic revolution in the same way that the political revolution had taken place earlier.
As per Pashinyan, reforms and institutional development are powerful tools that they must use in order to address the challenges facing democratic Armenia.
He said that immediately after coming to power, they launched a package of unprecedented radical measures to create democratic institutions in Armenia, and they took bold steps to achieve tangible results.
The PM noted that the most important direction of their institutional reforms is education, and their vision is to make lifelong education a nationwide practice for all segments of Armenia’s society.
In Pashinyan’s words, the Armenian government is determined to continue institutional reforms, but they also hope that the international community will support Armenia’s new-born democracy to meet the existing challenges, they need the best international track-record in terms of saving time and resources, and, in order to make Armenia’s democratic reforms more effective, they must avoid mistakes made by other emerging democracies.
Also PM Nikol Pashinyan said he takes this opportunity to thank Armenia’s international partners who are truly committed to supporting the country’s reform agenda. He said, in particular, they are grateful to the United Nations Development Programme, the European Union and the Council of Europe, and, he added that, in fact, he noted the UN, which includes almost the entire international community, and he expressed the hope all members of the international community would like Armenian democracy to succeed.
