‘Whatever one does is labeled patriotism, even bribery is taken in the name of the homeland’ - Pashinyan

‘Revelations will continue as long as they occur. Regarding the facts published by the opposition, our law enforcement agencies are interested in all these facts, and I assure you that there cannot be a case of corruption that does not receive due process. The fight against corruption is a matter of principled significance for us, and we will not diminish our efforts in this struggle,’ said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a Q&A session with the government in the National Assembly today, March 1.

‘Corruption is primarily linked to local self-government systems and judicial frameworks. My position is very clear here; there must be a significant increase in salaries in the public sector and the judicial system. It does not work that on one hand we say, ‘let's fight against corruption’, and say that state bodies should provide quality services, and we say that there should be specialists earning 90,000-110,000 AMD in the ministries. On the other hand, we expect that the processes will proceed quickly and qualitatively,’ emphasized the Prime Minister.

In response to the remark by Yerevan City Council Deputy Sergey Bagratyan, who said that the strongest antidote against corruption is patriotism, Pashinyan remarked that patriotism is similarly the most effective means in the fight against drugs.

‘In general, in our reality, we have overused the term patriotism. Whoever does anything labels it as patriotism. No one says, ‘you know, I am not a patriot.’ Bribery is also taken in the name of the homeland. For many years, the corruption in Armenia was explained by the fact that we maintain an army, the front line, weapons and ammunition, etc. Then we saw what happens. I would suggest that instead of relying on patriotism, let’s understand what kinds of formulations of patriotism are embedded in our consciousness. The formulations of patriotism that are ingrained in our consciousness, on the contrary, speak of the opposite, because for me the identification of the concepts of homeland and state is very important. Because some may act in the name of the homeland and against the state, which may turn out to be a cornerstone in our thinking.

‘The greatest problem we have is the criminal mindset; we don’t even notice it, we think it only exists among certain circles. No, it is a pervasive phenomenon that, fortunately, is decreasing among the youth. But there is simply no more fertile ground for corruption and crime than the criminal mindset. Our strategic target must be the criminal mentality; we must transition from that to the law and to law-based relationships. That is the correct option,’ said Pashinyan.