Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Fair Armenia party chairman Norayr Norikyan as part of his political consultations with extra-parliamentary political forces.

Nikol Pashinian - I followed your election campaign as much as possible and got good impressions. I am sorry that you did not get the necessary number of votes to enter the new parliament, but I think that is the peculiarity of elections. What matters most is that the polls reflected the people’s preferences. The main agenda of our meeting is as follows: I would like to hear your ideas on political developments.

What are your political plans? How do you see the relationship between the government and extra-parliamentary forces? Which is the way to consolidation, which is the most important component of our country’s recovery from this difficult situation? And what can we do to engage in a dialogue, so that the extra-parliamentary forces hear what the government is saying, and in turn, the government hears what the extra-parliamentary forces say?

I am convinced that there are many good ideas and opportunities, but they get lost in the general noise. Assuming that it is impossible to turn down the noise, at least one should extract rational elements from it: not doing so would mean missed opportunities.

Norayr Norikyan - Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. Thank you for the invitation. Let me say that regardless of election results, I consider this historical period important in the context of Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. I congratulate our people and you personally.

I hope that in the coming years, both the legislative and executive branches, naturally with a very strong and responsible mission, must conduct profound processes in all areas of public life in order to make a breakthrough and move forward. I agree with the remark that our country has been facing a deep crisis since last November. Yesterday you said that the political crisis has been overcome. I agree with this assessment. I see a serious need for state building in the coming years to improve governance efficiency and strengthen state institutions.

Mr. Prime Minister, I do not know to what extent you managed to follow my public activities. Since your coming to power, I have been paying special attention to the judicial system. And now I can reaffirm that the judiciary is the “Achilles heel” of our state and society.

I am deeply, and now even more strongly, convinced that it is the duty of our generation to eradicate the informal mores from this sphere, to build a highly responsible, impartial and fair judicial system, and to create an atmosphere of justice in public institutions in general.

I believe in this idea, I really believe that we have a dignified society. I believe that we will be able to carry out this process with honor, especially since we have no alternative. If we fail this time and fail to put things in order in these institutions of social life, we will have serious problems in the future.

This campaign was also my first big attempt at being the first person in politics. To be honest, there were many revelations in terms of the concept of human relations. I would like to express my thoughts as a citizen. I saw the use of administrative resources at the level of local government and understood how sabotage can operate in the system of local government. I saw their interconnectivity with specific circles; I saw the way this mechanism works.

Unfortunately, regardless of the political situation, we must eradicate this informal influence. It just does no credit to us. Neither does it honor to our society when people with questionable reputation are trying to influence and interfere in the electoral process. I see a lot of work in our upcoming process.

I have never been one of those who want to see failures in public administration. On the contrary, it does a lot of damage. I think this could be a very good opportunity to create an atmosphere conducive to solidarity and cohesion in public life.

Sorry, there may be a different perception, but I think that the results of these elections were perhaps much more important than even the results of the December 2018 elections, because this is a concrete assessment on the part of society.

The Fair Armenia party was created recently; it is only four months old. We see the need to change the political environment; we need to breathe new life into the political field. Mr. Prime Minister, we are ready to invest all our efforts in state building. Thank you.

The interlocutors discussed ways of providing new capabilities and opportunities, as well as the prospects for further cooperation.