Pashinyan Lists Achievements of the Last 6 Months: 'We Ask You to Decide Our Fate'

“The voice of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia will never be falsified again, there will never be impudence, and there will never be cars driving over the citizens of Armenia, I apologize for the grotesque comparison,” said acting Prime Minister, leader of the 'My Step' alliance Nikol Pashinyan during a meeting with residents in Hrazdan on November 30.

He enumerated the significant developments that have occurred in Armenia over the past six months:

• - Gas and electricity prices have decreased by 10 and 20 drams for socially vulnerable groups in certain quantities.
• - Contrary to agreements made by previous governments, drinking water prices in Armenia did not rise, although they were supposed to increase this December. They will not rise until 2024.
• - Salaries for 209,000 people have increased, and an additional 200,000 people will see salary raises throughout 2019.
• - Benefits and pensions for 85,000 people will increase starting January 1.
• - Interest rates on loans for the “Housing for Young Families” program have been reduced to unprecedented low levels. Generally, mortgage loan interest has decreased by 1.5 percent for all. The volume of mortgage lending has increased by 22 billion drams, meaning that this many people have acquired new homes.
• - Property prices have risen nationwide. This indicates increased activity, allowing people to obtain larger loans if they wish to borrow.
• - The credit history of 125,000 people has been cleaned. In other words, individuals who were on the 'blacklist' of borrowers have returned to the 'white list' for 25,000 people.
• - One-time benefits for the birth of a second child have tripled.
• - The number of registered workers has increased by 38,000.
• - Economic monopolies have been eliminated.
• - The issue of overcrowding in prisons has been resolved, where detainees used to sleep in queues due to lack of space.
• - A pardon has been granted for traffic violation fines affecting 150,000 people, with 13 billion drams forgiven.
• - The prices for heart stenting have decreased by 250,000 drams.
• - Starting in 2019, 200,000 citizens will benefit from healthcare according to social package criteria, meaning free healthcare services.
• - Systemic corruption has ended in the country. Micro-corruption has essentially disappeared, with separate cases in customs.
• - The oligarchy has been stripped of all leverage over government decisions.
• - For the first time in the last 24 years, elections in the country are not being falsified.
• - There are no political prisoners in the country, and road construction has been completed by 60 percent. People coming from Georgia used to find themselves in ruins; we quickly repaired the road connecting Georgia to Armenia, resulting in an 8.8 percent increase in tourism.
• - The doors of Baghramyan 26 and the National Assembly have opened to the public, and now children come for excursions through schools.
• - The police forces are not breaking citizens but are participating in border protection.
• - Currently, we have immigration instead of emigration. For the first time, we will close the year with net immigration.
• - Over the past seven months, community programs worth 7 billion drams have been implemented and are ongoing.
• - Tensions at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border have fallen to an unprecedented low, and we have seen an unprecedented low number of casualties from enemy fire this year.
• - Baghramyan 26 will once again be the presidential residence.
• - Destruction of historical and cultural monuments has been ruled out.
• - Investigative bodies are operating freely, and according to him, there will be new revelations in the coming days.
• - Sports funding in Armenia has increased by 12 percent.

Pashinyan declared that all issues facing this government have been resolved. “Today, power has been fully returned to you, and we ask you to decide our fate in these elections. We are at the mercy of the people, and the people must decide whether they want us to govern Armenia on their behalf. I am confident that we will be a good and effective government. But the moment you decide you do not want us to be the government, we will apologize, quietly withdraw, and yield to whatever political force earns your trust at that moment. We want Armenia to feel its strength and power,” emphasized Pashinyan.