Thank you for this expression of confidence and trust, in me. I assure you I will spare no effort to ensure that, together, we achieve our goals; after all, that is why we have established this party.
Under the new Constitution, where governance is anchored on a party system, the Unity Party will introduce a new culture in partisan politics. We will be open, transparent and accountable, we will give each individual, especially the youth, the opportunity to grow, develop and evolve; we will encourage and enable generational change; we will courageously and honestly speak about current problems, failures and all issues facing our country. We will propose a clear plan and targeted solutions for domestic, socio-economic, security and foreign policy issues.
We aspire to a pre-eminent role in Armenia’s politics, and we will do so such that the voters will view us as a credible aspirant to a new government.
Let me say at the outset, that the Unity Party is a party to the extent that it is the requirement of the law. Membership in it is important to the extent that it is the requirement of the law. This will be a non-party party; it will be a popular movement that will unite our whole society.
Read also
On that journey we will be ready, without exception, to cooperate with all those political forces, organizations and individuals who want to achieve regime change and implement fundamental changes in the country.
The party is being created at a fateful moment for our country and people. The country is facing many serious challenges, the threat of war hangs over our heads, the economy has been stagnant for successive years, emigration has not abated, people’s despair has deepened.
The people’s demand and expectation is that the authorities ensure the security of the country and its citizens and address their basic daily needs. People also want justice, protection and equal opportunities for all. In other words, what they demand is not much. It is the minimum that is promised them by the Constitution.
25 years post-independence, Isn’t it possible for a government to guarantee a safe, just and dignified life for its citizens? Of course it is possible.
25 years post-independence, Isn’t possible for the government to inspire hope and faith in the future? Of course it is possible.
All that is needed is vision, a clear plan and a demonstrated will and honesty to stand above personal, factional and party interests.
Armenia’s democracy and free-market economy are at a dangerous juncture. We have progressed in these two areas only so much as to appear to be a democratic country with a free-market economy. However, we have not progressed enough for those claims to be fundamentally convincing, either for our own society or for the international community. An entrepreneur sees and feels in his or her daily encounters that there is no level playing field, and that there is no certainty that property is protected. In a citizen’s interactions with authorities, you see that there is no tolerance, no justice and no real freedom of speech.
Justice is not when the court hands down a just decision in a dispute between two poor and impoverished neighbors. Justice is served when there is no government intervention in a dispute between the poor and the powerful, when the court delivers a just verdict without accepting a bribe.
Freedom of speech is not when newspapers and websites can write whatever they want, but when the entire media field is left to its normal course and when the public’s most accessible media outlet, television, is open and free, not subjected to a particular agenda or restricted by a black list. Freedom of speech is when a school principal can express his or her political position and not be fired the next day. Freedom of speech is when a businessman can have a clear political position and party affiliation and not have the tax man appear on his doorstep the next day.
In other words, we can continually pretend that we are a democratic state, that we have an open economy, but in reality, we aren’t and we don’t. A pretense of democracy and free market economy is more dangerous for the advancement of a state than a system where both are totally absent but where the rules of the game are clear.
Successful states are those which create inclusive political and financial institutions, those which provide opportunities to every individual to innovate, invest and flourish. States fail if their institutions are extractive, where power and resources are centralized in the hands of a narrow group or groups.
It is now clear to all of us that it is the political monopoly that breeds the discontent and the instability in our state and society. Yes, the political monopoly is the reason for the injustice and environment of intolerance in our country, it is the political monopoly that breeds and feeds the economic monopoly destroying the country’s economy and impeding its growth. It is because of the political monopoly that not everyone is equal before the law. It is this monopoly that has transformed the a proud citizen into a subject — one who ultimately chooses to leave the country.
The Unity Party is created to address and rectify these fundamental ills, firm in the conviction that we will achieve real equality and freedom, by gaining power and shaping the future.
Our program is based on four pillars.
First: Implementation of fundamental second and third generation reforms and in the shortest amount of time
The Freedom House 2016 Democracy Index calls Armenia a semi-consolidated authoritarian regime. In the same organization’s Freedom Press Index, Armenia’s media is ranked Not Free. In Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, Armenia lags behind most of Europe. In the World Economic Forum International Competitive Index, Armenia is also far behind.
If we were to sum this up in one sentence, it becomes apparent that we live in a semi-authoritarian state, with media that is not free, highly prone to corruption and non competitive. Citizens of Armenia see the implications of all of these in their daily lives and feel it on their skin.
If we wonder why the leading democratic states in the world treat us with disdain and foreign investments, which are so critical, decline year after year — by as much as 60-70 per cent — then the answers must be sought in those global rankings.
When a foreign entrepreneur is planning to invest in Armenia, he doesn’t call our embassies to find out about the investment climate is, but rather he or she relies on those global indices and that is where everything comes to a halt.
We, the Unity Party, will seek to improve Armenia’s rating in these key rankings and in all others where democracy, freedom, justice and free market relations are measured. I am confident that it is possible to improve Armenia’s ranking in those global indices and move up into the top 20-30 places.
Such desirable rankings have absolutely no correlation to resources, geopolitics or closed borders. They do however correlate directly with government will and priorities. The Unity Party has the political will and our priorities cannot be different than the interests of the country and the people.
Second: Bold, brave, expansionary but realistic economic policy
The absence of serious reforms for years, together with the government’s misguided policies of budget fulfillment and inflation control have resulted in a stagnant economy pulling the country into a poverty trap.
We will embark on a completely different route. We will introduce a new economic mind-set. Our policy targets will be economic growth, job creation and higher standard of living. To this end, we will advocate the implementation of an expansionary fiscal and monetary policy.
Only through such a bold approach will it be possible to transcend poverty, a budget deficit and debt traps in which we currently find ourselves. Clearly, such an expansionary approach will be effective only with the implementation of fundamental reforms.
Third: Reassessment of security and defense issues
The April War exposed our organizational and tactical shortcomings, together with serious armaments issues. The situation demands serious reassessment. However, one thing is clear; we must strive for peace even as we prepare for war. It is not enough that we desire peace. Our adversary, too, must want the same thing. And since they don’t, this no peace, no war situation can be prolonged.
We must no longer see the army as a ‘burden’ on the budget and military service as a source of anxiety and concern for families. The army must become the state’s most progressive and elite structure. Our youth must want to serve there. It must become the guarantor to their future success in life. This is not a dream. There are countries in the world who invest a great deal in their military, knowing that this is at the same time an investment in their future.
The army must become one of the engines for economic, scientific, technological development. Every single penny that goes to the army from the budget must have a multiplier effect in our national output. The army must also become an bastion of education, a unique complement to our public and higher education.
Finally: Return to a complementary foreign policy
In recent years, our foreign policy lacks an ideological framework and has been transformed from a means to an end. The foreign policy balance among three global poles has been slanted and for this very reason there has not been any tangible progress in bilateral or multilateral relations.
We will reintroduce complementarity as the guiding principle of foreign policy which has effectively served Armenia’s interests for so long. For ten years, peace was maintained, the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to self determination was codified, the flow of foreign investment was assured and that provided continual economic growth.
Nagorno Karabakh has achieved self determination. If not formal self-determination, but the right to self-determination for the people of Nagorno Karabakh is recognized by the international community. During all these years one thing has become very clear: Nagorno Karabakh can never be part of Azerbaijan.
Today our goal must be to move from the acknowledgement of the right to self-determination to the international recognition of the fact of already being self-determined for more than two decades. To achieve this, however, Armenia’s and Karabakh’s levels of democratization cannot in any way be comparable to Azerbaijan’s.
Dear compatriots,
The Diaspora is our invaluable resource. The Diaspora is an indivisible part of the Armenian nation and Armenia is its home.
Armenia-Diaspora relations must transcend its traditional and formal nature and become practical, purposeful and conceptual. A more aggressive policy must be pursued to make Armenian citizenship more attainable for each Armenian throughout the world.
The most immediate and effective way to integrate the Diaspora into Armenia is the creation of an open and democratic society, a competitive market economy and an independent justice system.
Armenia-Diaspora relations must be a two-way street. On the one hand, Armenia must contribute to the preservation of Armenian identity abroad and on the other hand, the Diaspora must have an active involvement in the development of Armenia’s democracy and economy thereby becoming a stakeholder in the real country of Armenia.
However, even as we link the Diaspora to the homeland, we must offer alternatives to emigration.
Emigration is a serious threat to national security. It can have irreversible political, economic, social and moral consequences for our state’s development and its existence.
Our party is confident that with the establishment of justice, the formation of a legitimate government through free and fair elections, the elimination of artificial monopolies and the implementation of an economic policy that creates an equal playing field for all, we will not only slow the rate of emigration but will greatly contribute to repatriation.
Dear compatriots,
After independence, my family and I were among the first pioneers to repatriate. I came to Armenia full of hope, faith and dreams. Twenty-five years later, despite life’s ups and downs, I continue to believe in Armenia’s future.
As any human being, I have many faults. However, I consider myself to be above reproach in two spheres – dedication to the homeland and honest and sincere service in government.
I was the Foreign Minister from the beginning of President Kocharyan’s term. I was Deputy Foreign Minister during Ter Petrosyan’s presidency and later first deputy minister. I have served not a man, but a nation and a state.
Unlike others, I have not amassed wealth in Armenia only to hide it abroad. Quite the opposite; I have used my personal connections to direct funds to the homeland. When I became a citizen of the Republic of Armenia in 1998, I gave up my American citizenship. More than half of my six dozen years of life, I have lived in Armenia. During that time I have never felt an outsider. I am a real Armenian — a true Hayastantsi, a true Karabakhtsi and a true Halebtsi — someone who has certainly not done any less for the homeland than others, including many high-ranking officials.
Armenia is a land of great opportunities. The Armenian people throughout the world command enormous intellectual and material resources. For all of us, there is only one homeland and the current appalling situation of that homeland is unacceptable.
I am confident that we all here believe that all this can be changed, and can be changed quickly. And it is precisely for that reason that we together have created this party and we extend our hands to those who want to work with us.