Armenian premier highlights importance of fight against illegal  influence on elections

ArmInfo.  RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with RA President Vahagn Khachaturyan.

The Prime Minister announced that he will be on vacation from May 8  in order to participate in the election campaign. "It will be  interrupted only on May 28, because I have certain duties on the day  of the state holiday, so I will fulfill those duties, and perhaps  there will be some work issues on that occasion. But, in general, I  plan to be in the campaign. Today, at the Cabinet meeting, I also  said that the most important task for us, the state institutions, is  to ensure the expression of the free will of the citizens of Armenia,  and, of course, the free competition of political ideas and  statements in the country.

That is the most important thing, so that the election results also  express the will of the people, and of course, there must also be a  fight against illegal influence on the elections and the will of the  people, which is the function of our state institutions. Of course,  in recent years we have done everything to develop capacities in the  Republic of Armenia so that an effective struggle can be waged in  that regard. I am convinced that our institutions will be able to  carry out that function so that everything remains exclusively in the  field of competition between political ideas and narratives.

And, of course, I also want to thank you again for supporting the  process of reforms during this period. I think that it is time for  the public to assess the process and results of the reforms, and the  public should give its assessment with its vote. And during this  period, we will do everything so that our people receive the most  complete information they need for making decisions, although we have  done our best in this direction so far," Prime Minister Pashinyan  noted.

President Khachaturyan thanked for the information and added: "Of  course, there is concern in any case, the Head of Government and some  of the members of the Government are going on vacation to participate  in the election campaign, but that is our law. I just was meeting  with the President of Latvia, I presented to him that our law  provides for this, he was a little surprised, but our law provides  for this and you are guided by the law.

In fact, I am sure that everything has been done by you, by the  Government, by the authorities so that the elections are held  transparently, without any problems and the election results do not  raise doubts, because during these years the biggest test for us has  always been the elections and the bad events have occurred during the  election and post- election periods.

After 2018, no elections have been questioned, but I want to mention  2021 in particular, because it was extraordinary, and you took that  step to gain the trust of the people, and the people trusted you. The  Government has done a tremendous job during these 5 years, and the  successes that exist, which are also recorded purely in economic  figures, are proof that these reforms have gone in the right  direction.

There was one circumstance, I wanted to write a scientific article, I  am in the process of it, but I can't finish it yet. An important  change has occurred, I must ask you to pay special attention to it.  There has been a change in the distribution of public output in our  country. If once the number of those who created that public output  was very small, for example, 40 wealthy people, now that number has  increased many times, with zeros, and as a result of this, people  have begun to live well, engage in business, and there is success in  the economy. As a result, inequality in our country has decreased.

I started to delve deeper into what the reason is, and the  explanation is very primitive:  because laws are functional, laws are  accessible, we use the word inclusive. The level of inclusiveness of  our economic policy and the policy pursued in the country in general  has increased and become accessible. When I look at our programs, the  programs that the Government presents, this factor is very important  in them, and the attitude of the people is also conditioned by this.

Approximately 50 thousand apartments are being built, more than 1  million square meters in the last two years. In the Soviet Union,  when they were building 700-800 thousand square meters, it was  considered a great success. More than 1 million and not only the  state participates in it, but people with the help of the state,  while in the Soviet Union the state was building.

And when we were talking about mortgage loans, the 16 million amd  programs, people see this in their everyday lives, they see this  opportunity. And I am confident that in the future, the state's  policy will be to ensure that its citizens trust their country, their  government, and believe in their state.

And what you, your Government, are implementing as a policy is aimed  at precisely this, so that we can respect our state. I repeat again,  I have no doubt that the authorities will do everything to ensure  that the elections are held invulnerably, at a high level, and  reliably.  But I also want the parties participating in the elections  to treat it the same way, and also for all of us to understand that  there is law in the Republic of Armenia and no one is above the law,  and in electoral and non-electoral processes, if violations occur,  they must be punished.

Only in this case will we succeed, this is not our personal  relations, this is a state, and the law, the Constitution must  operate in the state. Now is the opportunity to present programs  aimed at the future for another five years, let them present them,  let the people evaluate them, and in that case there will be no doubt  that somewhere someone made a mistake, someone abused or did not  abuse his powers.

I, of course, as well as you, have concerns that they will try to do  this, but the level of development of our state institutions, if we  compare them with 2021 and now, has become incomparably more  qualified, they have mastered the situation incomparably. We see this  every day, of course, we still have a lot to do, that understanding  of reform is constant, it is in our lives every day, if we do not  learn every day, do not reform, one day it will turn out that we have  remained the same, we have not changed anything.

I wish you success as the head of the Government, the head of the  state, in successfully organizing the elections, as well as you as  the head of the political team in the electoral processes. I also  wish success to all those parties that will actually act within the  framework of the law. And I wish you these successes because I am  confident that democracy will win in the Republic of Armenia, and  this will be the victory of our democracy''.