We Must Measure Seven and Cut One: Pashinyan

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, participated today in a reception organized for representatives of the state administration system on the occasion of the New Year and Christmas, alongside His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, and the President of the National Assembly, Ararat Mirzoyan.

During his speech, Prime Minister Pashinyan mentioned, "Esteemed President of the National Assembly, esteemed Vice Presidents, gentlemen Vice Prime Ministers, honorable members of the government, esteemed Mayor of Yerevan, respected Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, distinguished state figures, and esteemed attendees. In a totalitarian regime, governing bodies exist to control, supervise, and manage everything. In democratic systems, the state administration must be guided by a well-known medical principle — do no harm, meaning that the primary mission of the state administration must be to avoid causing harm, or to put it more specifically, not to interfere with the normal economic, political, and social life of the country. Our government has set a political objective to adhere to this kind of logic, and in reviewing the results of 2019, we inevitably must ask ourselves how well we have accomplished this task, how effectively we have worked in 2019.

Overall, if we look at the results, we see that we have had good, sometimes very good, and occasionally outstanding results. What does this indicate, or what conclusions should we draw in the context of everything stated? We must admit that we have sometimes worked well, at times we have worked very well, in some places we have worked poorly, and in others, very poorly. This is an important acknowledgment to make as we summarize 2019 and prepare for 2020. Essentially, we must acknowledge that in the Republic of Armenia, in a largely authoritarian system, we are attempting to implement democratic reforms within the governance structure. This acknowledgment should not sound like an accusation, but rather as documentation and awareness of our current reality. We must properly diagnose our problem, formulate our questions accurately, so that we can find correct answers to them. So what is our response to this situation?

Our response to this situation is the process of public governance reforms, which we must implement consistently. The correct evaluation of the situation involves an individualized approach to assessing the work of officials in the state administration system, and the appropriate response to this situation is achieving ideological consistency and harmony within the state governance system. This is a rather difficult, yet solvable problem, and we are making progress step by step on that path. I can note that at the government level, with each passing month, a more noticeable team-oriented working logic and harmonious workflow is emerging. I believe this is apparent, and we must continue this process until we get as close to perfection as possible.

We have similar issues throughout the entire state administration system. Today, in government, in ministries, and in state administrative bodies, there are good officials and employees, as well as bad ones, and even very poor officials and employees. This problem exists in all systems today, but in general, we should approach this issue in a balanced, thoughtful, and planned manner, measuring seven and cutting one in each case.

In this regard, we have faced much criticism for not being sufficiently revolutionary in our attitude toward the state administration system, but I want to draw our — all of our — attention to the fact that the non-violent, velvet, popular revolution that took place in Armenia in 2018 had the same methodology: it was a revolution that measured seven times and cut once. Hence, that was the method that brought results, and this result was not simply the political change that occurred in the country. There were forces in Armenia for whom political change itself was a goal, and it was sometimes declared that this could be achieved by any means. We have never thought this way, and we will never think this way because for us, the important thing is not the change itself but the substance of change, the profound content of it. And it is this approach that has brought us the results we have during the first full post-revolution year.

Dear attendees, allow me to sincerely congratulate you all on the New Year and Christmas, convey my wishes to your family members, employees of your ministries, agencies, and all workers in state and local self-government, as well as judicial bodies, and hope that in 2020, we can not only maintain the pace we have gained in 2019 but also amplify and make the positive changes more tangible and visible for the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, citizens of the Artsakh Republic, and indeed for our entire nation.

Therefore, long live the Republic of Armenia, and long live our children who live now and will live — and we, by the way — in a free and happy Armenia. And of course, the Republic of Armenia is a free, sovereign, and dignified state, and each year, the Republic of Armenia will become freer, more sovereign, and more dignified. Thank you."