Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the delegation of PACE Monitoring Committee co-rapporteurs, headed by Giuseppe Galati.
The Prime Minister highlighted the PACE monitoring process and the cooperation with the Council of Europe in terms of strengthening democracy in Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan noted that the recent developments in Armenia took place according to the people’s free will and exclusively by peaceful means.
“This means that democracy is already an established fact in Armenia and stands at a fairly high level. Our government intends to make it a permanent reality. Early parliamentary elections are a priority for us, and we need to provide the necessary legislative and technical conditions for holding free and fair elections,” the Premier said, convinced that the elections will reflect the people’s will.
According to Nikol Pashinyan, the country had not seen fair elections over the past two decades, and this should be the key to dealing with the problems at hand. “The greatest mission of our government is to return to people its inalienable right to form public authorities. I consider that an important stage of establishing democracy is not only to come to power in a free, fair and democratic way, but also to leave in the same manner,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
Appreciating the steps aimed at strengthening the fundamental values of the Council of Europe in our country, Nikol Pashinyan voiced his concern over the attempts to use PACE as a platform for discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Nikol Pashinyan stressed that there is only one platform for the settlement of the Karabakh issue, namely the OSCE Minsk Group format.
The Co-rapporteurs congratulated Nikol Pashinyan on being elected Prime Minister and assured that the Armenian events will give fresh impetus to the development and strengthening of democracy in the country.
During the meeting, the interlocutors talked about the Government’s priorities, the fight against corruption and monopolies, political developments and a number of other issues.