As part his consultations with the leaders of a number of political forces, Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today met with Free Democrats party chairman Khachatur Kokobelyan.

Nikol Pashinian: Mr. Kokobelian, I am pleased to see you. First of all, I wish to thank you for accepting my invitation. The Free Democrats party did not take part in parliamentary elections but we, nevertheless, consider it very important at this stage of political life to ensure continued communication with extra-parliamentary forces. I would like to hear your position and ideas about developing Armenia’s political life.

The internal political crisis has been overcome through snap parliamentary elections, but this does not mean that the challenges that our country has been facing following the war have been overcome. We have many problems, and we think that in order to solve them we must maximize our social and national potential. I would like to hear your views on the future development of political life, as well as your approaches as to what we can do to get the government and extra-parliamentary forces in closer touch with each other.

Khachatur Kokobelyan: First of all, thank you for the invitation and for the opportunity to talk about those important issues you mentioned. I would like to congratulate you on the elections, of course, they were important for our country, as well as in terms of international assessments. There were minor problems indeed. We must understand and accept this fact. Of course, I wish the election campaign had been a little bit different, and perhaps that was one of the main reasons why we did not want to participate in the elections.

Politically, I cannot help mentioning that you assumed office in quite a challenging period. I mean not only the war, but also the history of our newly independent Armenia in general, including the status of public institutions and many other factors.

Security is the most important issue, including the problem of prisoners, but I would like to consider the issue of security in a multi-vector perspective: I mean against the backdrop of today’s rapidly changing world, because reforms and transformations in general are taking place outside of us, independently of us. Nevertheless, we should state that this stage was difficult, and I do not think anyone has failed to understand that in spite of everything it is a great responsibility for our compatriots and, all the more so, for you.

We have to realize this fact and understand what kind of development model we are proposing for Armenia. In particular, I will tell you my opinion. I do not think it will be news to you, but I would like to talk about the government’s position. In general, I consider that discussions like this are very important. We must move forward according to this model. The aforementioned problems cannot be solved behind closed doors, and this also provides other opportunities, at least in the case of public perception of incomprehensible situations, etc.

It seems to be that Armenia faces a new stage of development, as the whole world does, including the challenge of COVID-19, which dealt a serious blow to the global economy due to geopolitical reshuffles. I mean the approaches of the G7, the approaches of China. We cannot stay away from all that. As we find ourselves in an extremely fragile security and economic environment, we cannot ignore how the world develops and what is going on.

The country we all dream of is a developed Armenia with a well-organized economy and security system. The problems cannot be tackled overnight, but I think that we have an opportunity to solve them; there is an opportunity to lead Armenia along the right path of development.

You certainly have that opportunity. I personally hope that you will take full advantage of this opportunity - I say this as I know you very well. And I think that you need to be backed by the public-at-large, including different layers of society, institutions that may be formed, as well as the existing institutions that may adapt to the new situation. We live in a completely new reality, and we need to be aware of that.