Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today met with Conservative Party Chairman Mikayel Hayrapetyan as part of his political consultations with extra-parliamentary forces.

Nikol Pashinyan - Our country ran into snap parliamentary elections amid rather a tense situation. The most important outcome is that the people’s right to free expression of their political will was fully ensured. I would like to remind you that the international community gave high assessment to the snap elections of 2018. Many of our opponents said that we did not need to falsify the 2018 elections, since the results were obvious to everyone from the outset. In this respect, I consider the latest elections to be the triumph of democracy in Armenia, because I should admit that the outcome was unpredictable.

However, I consider it important to state that the Armenian government and authorities demonstrated political will and integrity by ensuring full expression of citizens’ will and competitiveness of elections, which was recorded by the international community. And on the contrary, the incidences of unlawful influence on election results were committed by opposition representatives.

In any case, Mr. Hayrapetyan, today I would like to hear your opinion on the future course of political life, as well as on what we can do to make the extra-parliamentary opposition and the government more audible and accessible to each other. Thank you.

Mikayel Hayrapetyan - First, the Conservative Party deems that the election results cannot be disputed in any way, and we made a statement to that effect as early as the next day. We waived the Conservative Party’s activity in the Free Homeland electoral bloc. However, the elections showed that national consolidation is necessary. On the contrary, there is some chaos in the country, contrary to our pro-Armenian agenda. We will go against this chaos, no matter what force it is provoked by.

Also, we need to mobilize the pan-Armenian potential; we have the task of forming a digital Armenia, a new Armenia to defy the emerging challenges. Otherwise, our ethnos cannot have a future in this region. We need to modernize, but not lose our core values. And here spiritual security is fundamental, which, unfortunately, remains open to this day.

As Charents put it in his time, “O Armenian people, your salvation is in your collective strength!” Our task is to redefine this concept. I am confident that Charents did not mean physical strength, but the strength of mind and spirit that can be realized today. This is only possible through the new government’s cautionary steps.

The Conservative Party is ready to support and help the government in overcoming any challenge, because we are all in the same boat. As Garegin Nzhdeh said, regardless of who leads the Motherland, the Motherland must be served, the Motherland must be loved, the Motherland is common, and we, the conservatives, are prepared to take the challenge. Thank you.