Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Chairman Gagik Tsarukyan as part of consultations with the leaders of a number of political forces.

Thanking Gagik Tsarukyan for accepting the invitation, Nikol Pashinyan noted: “I have already stated that the internal political crisis in Armenia has been overcome following the snap parliamentary elections. We believe that we need to do our best in order to mobilize the national potential on the way to tackling the problems facing our country and find the right formats for this.

The Prosperous Armenia Party has indeed played an important role in the political life of the Republic of Armenia for many years. The PAP did not clear the threshold required to enter the parliament the latest elections. Nevertheless, I do believe that your party continues to be an influential force in Armenia’s political life. We have faced several challenges in recent months. In the meantime, we had the opportunity to meet and hold a brief discussion last year.

I would like to hear your opinion on the further development of political life, on what we can do so that the extra-parliamentary opposition, in general, the Prosperous Armenia Party, in particular, could interact with the government, since I feel that especially in the current state of affairs we need such communication formats as may facilitate the implementation of valuable ideas. I do not think that good ideas only come from those who get more votes in parliamentary elections. And if there is a desire on the part of other representatives of the political field to share and convey ideas. We are prepared to make every effort to put them, so to speak, on the line of implementation. Therefore, I would like to hear your position and your views on this issue.”

Gagik Tsarukyan: Mr. Prime Minister, after the elections as I thanked the nation, the participants in elections, those who voted for us, I said that not everything depends on whether or not one has a mandate, and this does not mean that if there is no mandate, we will not communicate with the people.

We are with the people. We discussed, participated and voiced our point of view, our vision of how we can get out of this situation, no matter we are in parliament or not. We have always done, are doing and will do anything that can serve the common cause to the best of our ability.