President Serzh Sargsyan, speaking of the local self-governance in the Republic of Armenia, rebuked the district governors during the meeting, speaking of the lack of suggestions of economic development programs made by them, representing false figures relative to construction, doing incorrect accounting and failing in a set of issues: “It is not a secret that many district governors abuse their position and use it for having ununderstandable and unaccepted incomes, starting from alienating the lands belonging to district administrations by various tricks and other ways, showing a dishonest attitude to district budgets and I do not want to go deeper into details, inasmuch as this conversation is very unpleasant to me. I simply want to say one thing: we have been very forgiving towards district governors. We have been forgiving because we have considered that they should self-sustain, this institution should self-sustain and in this process certain bad manifestations are possible. I do not make you afraid, I simply want to warn all of you, if someone is to engage in these issues, then it is better for him to go and work somewhere else. We are ready to, honestly, treat you as the apple of our eyes, we are ready to help you within the limits of the possible, be it a personal or a district issue, but we are not ready to see how some of you take the money of out public home. It is a shame.”
Human rights defender Vardan Harutyunyan addressed to the afore-spoken, saying he did not perceive Serzh Sargsyan’s words as a rebuke: “I perceive them as a confession, Serzh Sargsyan confesses theft has always been present in the country year by year. It is first and foremost a confession. And then the ones interested can look up on the internet, the internet gives them that opportunity, and see what Serzh Sargsyan has told about theft, appropriations, corruption throughout the years and what has changed in our country afterwards. They can draw out conclusions from that afterwards, on whether it was a serious or a regular speech. ”
As stated by Vardan Harutyunyan, “We see our lives, our surroundings from a completely different perspective, and they speak about a completely different thing. When we enter into that conversation, we try to find a logic where it is not present.”
According to Mr. Harutyunyan, “Holding suchlike meetings, consultations time to time is their working routine, they are engaged in it, but the country proceeds pursuing a completely different path. If the tiny percent of what they represented was close to the reality, each of our youths would not be thinking of leaving the country”.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
