Military Service Reputation Should Match Armed Forces Authority: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chaired the inaugural meeting of the inter-agency commission for implementing reforms in the defense sector, aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the fight against corrupt practices. During the meeting, the Prime Minister stated that today marks the official launch of the commission's work.

“Why was the establishment of such a commission necessary? I have said it several times, and I wish to emphasize once again: the army, the Armed Forces have an unassailable authority in the Republic of Armenia. This is understandable, but at the same time, we have a strange phenomenon where the reputation of military service does not correspond with the authority of the Armed Forces. We have formulated the task of equating the reputation of military service with that of the Armed Forces,” said Nikol Pashinyan.

Responding to the question of why this commission was created outside of the Security Council, as well as the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Prime Minister stated, “You know that the Armed Forces are undergoing extensive reforms during this period. These reforms are taking place in their entirety, and there is a clear vision, strategy, and tactics for these reforms. Of course, these reforms must continue, and during this period, there is a necessity for us to have the opportunity to form an external perspective on the issues raised, and that is precisely why the commission was established within the Security Council.”

Nikol Pashinyan noted that the group is composed of deputies from various departments and that this approach was adopted with the consideration that discussions should occur as free as possible from political conjuncture and tension. “Of course, in cases where the group reaches consensus on decisions or approaches, we will document that those decisions are highly likely to be implemented as agreed. In all other cases where consensus is not achieved, we will also discuss the results of those discussions within the Security Council, in the government format, and attempt to reach agreement on those issues as well,” added the Prime Minister.

Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that in 2019, there were quite favorable outcomes in preventing and managing corrupt practices within the army. “In 2019, a record low number of casualties were registered in the entire history of the Armed Forces, at least within the context of the ongoing statistics. However, you know that at the beginning of this year we had certain outbreaks, and each case, of course, receives significant public attention. Not only public attention; it primarily receives considerable response in the Ministry of Defense, in the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and in the government. We have a challenge to improve the effectiveness of tools to manage these situations and problems. Moreover, recent events have led us to believe that we may need to examine, analyze, and draw conclusions regarding the causal relationships of these phenomena more deeply and comprehensively. During this time, many departments and institutions that address this topic have made various proposals, and there is a need to classify those proposals and make decisions regarding them,” said the head of the executive.

The Prime Minister expressed hope that as a result of the commission's activities, it would be possible to have an effective reform program and to be confident that those reforms would yield the necessary results. “Of course, today we must register that the format of the commission has been formed in such a way that we can implement the following principle: any idea is subject to discussion, can be discussed, but the presence of any idea on the agenda and placing it on the discussion table does not yet guarantee any solution or resolution. Since there are numerous ideas, we want to discuss all of them—to formulate our attitude towards them, to refute or confirm them accordingly. So, I wish the commission good luck,” said the Prime Minister.

Subsequently, questions were discussed regarding the further activities of the commission.