Nikol
Pashinyan
Prime Minister of Armenia
Speech made to the Assembly
Thursday, 11 April 2019
Thank you, Madam President. I shall deliver my speech in Armenian, so please adjust your headphones, colleagues.
(The speaker continued in Armenian) Honourable Madam President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, honourable Mr Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and honourable members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, high-ranking guests who speak from this rostrum commonly start their statements with the following sentence: “It is a great honour for me to speak from the rostrum of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.” It is indeed a great honour, but allow me to say that speaking from this rostrum has particular meaning and significance for me. I will now try to explain the reasons why.
In the summer of 1999, as editor-in-chief of the Oragir daily newspaper, I was awaiting the judgment in a criminal case instigated against me. The case had been triggered by an article published in Oragir, as I was its editor. The prosecutor demanded that I be convicted and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Back in those days, it was virtually impossible for a court to depart from what a prosecutor claimed, but then something like a miracle happened. Although I was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison, the court imposed the sentence in such a way as to postpone my actual imprisonment.
It later emerged that there was only one reason for that. As Armenia was preparing to become a member of the Council of Europe and as the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Lord Russell-Johnston, was about to visit Armenia to discuss matters related to accession, the authorities had come to appreciate that jailing an editor would not set a very positive background for the visit of such an eminent person. During his visit, Lord Russell-Johnston did indeed discuss my situation and the authorities apparently promised not to put me behind bars. In fact, after Lord Russell-Johnston’s visit my conviction became conditional, and because Armenia proceeded to accede to the Council of Europe in the rest of 1999 and 2000, I managed to stay out of prison during that time.
In subsequent years, criminal proceedings were launched against me on several occasions, but my actual imprisonment was always postponed. It eventually happened after the well-known events of 1 March 2008, when the unlawful actions of the authorities led to the deaths of 10 Armenian citizens, including eight peaceful demonstrators. At that time, thousands of opposition supporters were taken to police stations just for participating in a demonstration. Moreover, about a hundred political leaders and activists ended up behind bars as political prisoners. Citizens who had been deprived of the right to assemble, politicians who had been jailed and their relatives, and the relatives of the victims of 1 March 2008, invested all their hope and faith in the Council of Europe and this Parliamentary Assembly, because after 1 March 2008 the constitution had been essentially repealed in the Republic of Armenia and people had neither any hope nor access to any effective legal remedy.
The five resolutions adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in connection with those events brought a breath of fresh air into Armenia. They gave the people hope and a belief that not everything was lost. I had been held in pre-trial detention since 2009, and I was convicted and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in 2010. However, I spent only two years in prison before I was again freed, owing to the support of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia but also the support of the Council of Europe.
In winter 2011, I was visited in prison by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg. That visit was essential in drawing international attention to the general plight of political prisoners in Armenia and to my plight in particular. Not long afterwards, the European Court of Human Rights declared my case an urgent one and two months after that the authorities in Armenia released me under an act of pardon, knowing all too well that otherwise the Council of Europe’s next step would have been officially to declare me a political prisoner.
The next stage of my engagement with the Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly was in December 2018. At that time, I was already the Prime Minister of Armenia, a position that I had achieved as a result of the non-violent, Velvet people’s revolution that took place in April and May of 2018. In December 2018, it was time for the next milestone in the revolution – the snap parliamentary election in my country. In that election, our political party received over 70% of the vote, but more importantly the PACE observation mission concluded that the election was democratic. It said, “Owing to the Velvet revolution and the political will demonstrated by the authorities, it has been possible to conduct democratic elections in Armenia.” The other international observation missions also recognised December’s snap parliamentary election as a free, fair, democratic and competitive election, an assessment that had never been made of any previous election in Armenia. It was the first time that the official outcome of a parliamentary election in my country was not challenged in the constitutional court. It was also the first parliamentary election in Armenia to produce a result that was unreservedly accepted by all the political forces and the general public.
Now, standing here as Prime Minister after being elected by the people of the Republic of Armenia, I wish to extend my gratitude to the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly for their support of human rights and the development of democracy in Armenia. Democracy has now prevailed in Armenia. It has happened because of the non-violent, Velvet people’s revolution that took place in Armenia about a year ago. I want to underline clearly that the revolution was conceived in the soul and heart of the Armenian people. No foreign power was involved in any way whatsoever in our revolution. It had no geopolitical content nor any geopolitical undercurrents.
So how did this revolution take place and how did it succeed? In 2015, near the end of his second presidential term, Armenia’s then de facto leader, Serzh Sargsyan, implemented constitutional amendments that would transition Armenia from a semi-presidential form of government to a parliamentary system by April 2018. When Serzh Sargsyan was initiating those constitutional amendments, he publicly promised never again to aspire to the position of Armenia’s leader, which was also the position of Prime Minister. In 2018, however, it became clear that he was the ruling party’s candidate for the position of Prime Minister.
When we learned about that, my friends and I started a march on 31 March 2018 from Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, to the capital city, Yerevan. En route, we urged Armenian citizens to prevent Serzh Sargsyan from carrying out his political swindle. We walked for 13 days and over 200 kilometres, with the whole process being covered live on social media. In Yerevan, countless school children – boys and girls – were the first in the city to join our movement. They were followed by their elder siblings – their brothers and sisters – and then by their mothers and fathers, and finally by their grandfathers and grandmothers.
On 17 April 2018, Serzh Sargsyan was elected by the Parliament as Prime Minister, and on 22 April 2018 I once again found myself in prison. However, the very next day Serzh Sargsyan was forced by popular pressure to release my friends and me, and to resign as Prime Minister. Fifteen days later, on 8 May 2018, that same parliament elected me as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, because that was what the Armenian public demanded. That is how our revolution took place, which we came to call the revolution of love and solidarity because from the outset it was based on the logic of a non-violent struggle. Open palms and open hands raised in the air were the symbol of our revolution. They signified our repeated pledge that even if the police and the incumbent were to use violence against us, we would not under any circumstances respond to violence with violence. Love and the belief in non-violent struggle truly prevailed in Armenia over the oligarchic and corrupt system that had ruled the country for years. They prevailed with no violence and without a single victim. They prevailed without any weapons, just open hands raised in the air.
Vast political changes are happening in Armenia. We have managed to root out systemic corruption, eliminate the monopolistic structure of the economy and create real prerequisites for everyone’s equality before the law. Every day we are further reducing the grey economy. Over the last 10 months, more than 50 000 jobs have been brought out of the shadow economy or created in Armenia. That is the equivalent of 10% of the total jobs in the labour market. Our fiscal revenue has significantly exceeded targets. In 2019 we plan to collect at least €70 million more in fiscal revenue – the equivalent of 2.6% of total fiscal revenue. Those additional funds will be used to build roads, invest in education and healthcare, develop regions evenly and increase wages. Our government’s activities are transparent and accountable, and our power stems from the expression of our people’s free will.
Today, Armenia is unequivocally a democratic country with absolute freedom of expression and of assembly. The chapter of election rigging and systemic corruption in our country has been closed definitively. Our government continues to take steps to enhance respect for human rights. However, our democracy needs to be reinforced with economic and institutional safeguards. The development of democratic institutions, the existence of an independent judiciary and the creation and strengthening of anti-corruption institutions are all key areas in which we need the support of the Council of Europe. All that is important not only to consolidate the outcomes of our political revolution, but to succeed in our recently launched economic revolution, which primarily is aimed at encouraging our citizens’ economic activity, creating real opportunities for them, and making Armenia even more attractive for investments and tourism and a true pioneer in technology. We are convinced that we will succeed in this difficult mission because our people have regained faith in our own strength and future.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains a serious challenge for our whole region. Like any democratic government, the Armenian Government is committed to the principle of a peaceful settlement of the issue. However, the democratic changes that have taken place in our country have added some new shades to our understanding of how the issue can be settled. It is crucial that we have managed to launch a rather constructive and positive dialogue with Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, but I am convinced that mere dialogue between leaders is not enough to settle the issue. It is important to launch a dialogue between societies, so that we prepare our respective societies for peace, not war. In my recent press conference in Yerevan, I stated that social media could serve as an important platform for such dialogue, although Armenians and Azerbaijanis unfortunately continue to use it to interact using the language of obscenity and hate.
Over the 30 years of conflict, we could have exhausted the vocabulary of hate and obscenity, helped one another to understand our respective positions and at least attempted to find the reasons that keep us from understanding one another. I initiated that discourse by stating in the Armenian Parliament several times that any solution to the Karabakh issue must be acceptable to the people of Armenia, of Nagorno-Karabakh and of Azerbaijan. That statement was unprecedented and outlined the formula that could pave the way to a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh issue. Unfortunately, we still have not heard similar statements from Azerbaijan. I hope that this message, conveyed from this rostrum of peace, will earn an adequate response in Azerbaijani society.
There is a reason I just called this Assembly’s rostrum a rostrum of peace. I believe this is the place where obscenity ought to be replaced with dialogue, and provocations with constructive engagement. Unfortunately, the rostrum of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is, at times, used to instigate wars. I must note that the discussion on Nagorno-Karabakh that took place here in January 2016 became a prelude to the four-day war unleashed in April of the same year. It created a fertile ground for Azerbaijan’s armed forces to launch an attack. I could not confidently assert that they were doing so consciously, but still, the authors of those discussions and documents triggered a war that cost Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan several hundred lives. To this day, on other international platforms as well as this one, unfortunately there are attempts to drag such organisations into geopolitical games and conflicts, attempting to turn them into parties to conflicts. That behaviour is absolutely contrary to the mission and essence of these organisations.
Needless to say, each conflict must be examined in terms of its merits and essence. Passing judgment on any conflict without understanding its origin, causes, nature and peculiarities would be tantamount to playing with human lives and destinies. That is why we continue to believe that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs should be the only ones to deal with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, together with the three parties to conflict. That is the only format in which the participants have information on not only the status quo but the whole history and subtleties of the negotiations from day one. The OSCE Minsk Group was established as a platform for dialogue between all the parties to the conflict – Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia. We are taking measures to reinstate dialogue between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan through the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.
That does not in any way mean that there is no role for the Council of Europe to play in the Karabakh conflict zone. This Organisation, which promotes human rights and democratic institutions in Europe, has paid no attention whatever to supporting non-governmental organisations operating in Nagorno-Karabakh. PACE has taken no steps whatever to promote the consolidation of democratic institutions and the development of civil society in Nagorno-Karabakh. The explanation given has been that there are ambiguities and discrepancies regarding its status, and it is not internationally recognised as a state, but the engagement of PACE has nothing to do with sovereign status. Nagorno-Karabakh is still not recognised internationally as a sovereign state, but is there international debate on whether the people living there are human beings? For the Council of Europe, a global pioneer in the protection of human rights, should documents prevail over real people?
From this high rostrum, I appeal to the Council of Europe – and all organisations in Europe working for the promotion of human rights, protection of the freedom of expression, and the strengthening of democratic institutions – to help the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to improve their laws and institutions, and to promote human rights, the rule of law and independence of the judiciary. Human beings will benefit from that. Humans are worth much more than any documents, or any political or group’s interests. I am convinced that the Council of Europe and this Parliamentary Assembly will be guided by their values.
Honourable President, Secretary General and members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, it has been very important and a true honour for me to address this Assembly on the first anniversary of the Armenian revolution of love and solidarity. Declaring Armenia country of the year in 2018, The Economist posed the following question: will Armenia be able to advance the success achieved in 2018? I am honoured to declare from this high rostrum that democracy in Armenia is irreversible, for the simple reason that its victory in our country was secured not by political leaders or parties, but by the people, the citizens, the youth. They know now that they are the driving force of all progress. They will certainly not miss this exceptional opportunity to turn Armenia into a beacon of democracy, rule of law, transparency and tolerance. Armenia can and will remain a source of good news for all those who believe in democracy. Thank you.