Mnatsakanyan: Popular demand for holding early elections reflects  current political reality in Armenia

ArmInfo. The year 2018 special for Armenia is the year of radical democratic changes,  manifested in the form of the "velvet revolution". On October 15,  during his speech at the meeting of foreign ministers of the Eastern  Partnership countries, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan  said.

The Armenian Minister recalled that Armenian society resolutely  rejected the negative phenomena of the past and embarked on reforms  aimed at combating corruption, strengthening the justice system and  the rule of law, protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms,  and ensuring equal opportunities in social and economic life in order  to promote sustainable development.

According to him, in the form of "velvet revolution" has demonstrated  a high level of legal awareness and maturity of the Armenian society  and its institutions. He noted the important role of women and youth  in the life of the country. "Peaceful democratic processes within the  framework of the Eastern Partnership open up new areas for  cooperation.

The main priorities of the new government of Armenia are the goals  indicated in the program "20 goals until 2020", in particular, such  areas as economic development and market opportunities, institutional  strengthening and effective management, interconnection, energy  saving, mobility, encouraging contacts between nations, protecting  the environment Wednesday, "said the Armenian minister.

Mnatsakanyan assured that over the past 5 months, the Armenian  government paid special attention to such issues as the rule of law,  the fight against corruption and the promotion of democratic  institutions and there are already tangible results. The Minister  stressed that it is equally important to promote our national  development program.

At the same time, he stated that the September elections to the  Metropolitan Council of Elders demonstrated the continued public  support and mandate given to the government and the Prime Minister.   "The popular demand for holding early elections reflects the current  political reality in Armenia - elections are expected to be held in  December. The capital elections demonstrated the commitment and  political will of the new authorities to hold free and fair  elections," Mnatsakanyan said, adding that the RA government welcomes  and appreciates the financial and technical EU support in the conduct  of elections.

At the same time, he stressed that the government is decisive in  stimulating the reform agenda for development. According to him, the  modernization of the Armenian economy, with particular emphasis on  the development of information and telecommunication technologies,  increasing the number of startups, supporting small and medium  enterprises (SMEs), encouraging innovative and creative education  reflects the development agenda and direction.

According to him, creating favorable conditions for innovation,  creative thinking, the use of technology, youth development and  entrepreneurship are among the strategic priorities of the  government. "In this regard, we seek to promote cooperation between  the various platforms of the EU and the Eastern Partnership. A  comprehensive and expanded Armenia-EU partnership agreement is indeed  an important format for multilateral cooperation with the European  Union in support of our national development agenda," the Armenian  Foreign Minister said.

He also touched upon the issue of liberalizing the visa regime as one  of the priorities of the new government, and which Armenia is  actively promoting in the EU countries.

In conclusion, Mnatsakanyan noted that the "velvet revolution" in  Armenia was purely internal in nature, and assured that the new  government is committed to continuing the foreign policy agenda in  both bilateral and multilateral formats in order to promote regional  and international peace, stability and complementary cooperation.