Nikol Pashinyan Meets with Samvel Babayan

As part of consultations with extra-parliamentary political forces, Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting today with Samvel Babayan, who heads the pre-election list of the "Liberal" party.

Nikol Pashinyan: "Dear Mr. Babayan, I am glad to see you. I have tried to follow your campaign as much as possible during the pre-election period, and I regret that your political force did not overcome the threshold required to enter the parliament. I initiated today's meeting to hear your views on the upcoming political processes and also about how we can, what formats we can see, so that the extra-parliamentary opposition, including you, and the government can be more mutually audible to each other, what opportunities you see in all this."

Samvel Babayan: "Thank you. First of all, I congratulate all of you, your party, because you have really taken on significant responsibility. We need to build the future, and Armenia has great hopes for you to ensure development and security. I have also congratulated the other 2 parties because it is necessary to consolidate this situation, and we must go towards that. The future demands that from us. Everyone, in my opinion, should set aside their ambitions and try to cooperate for the sake of our state, for our future. My opinion is that internal stability will solve significant problems, if we all realize and understand that the interests of our state should be prioritized above all else: this is the first point.

The second is that in this entire political process we have presented our views. I would try to point out the fundamental political problems—the Constitution and legislation are the foundation. All these fluctuations, in my and our team's opinion, stem from the imperfections and ambiguities of the legislative base. This is a serious problem, and my request is that you pay close attention to this in the future. We need to empower the state in such a way that a person can invest all their positive energies, and there should be no obstacles. Evil exists in all of us; we need to limit it by laws, legislative acts, so that it does not prevail."

Once again, I say, I am sincerely glad, regardless of what percentage we received, what happened, how it happened— the people decide. I have repeatedly said that they have found the right path, that they see their future in this direction, and have gone that way. We should all welcome that and try to be as useful as we can to this entire process.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the consolidation of potential and capabilities, as well as prospects for further cooperation.