Report by Serzh Sargsyan,
Dear colleagues,
I greet you all at the Republican Party’s 17th regular congress and wish everyone productive work.
This is a regular but not an ordinary congress: we can say without exaggeration that it is being held at a time when our state and people face serious challenges. We, the Republicans, have been at the roots of fighting for Armenia’s independence, have played a key role in the state-building process and, therefore, this situation is very concerning for us and dictates certain priorities for our work.
Today, we have the opportunity and we are even bound by duty to discuss the developments that affected our state, our people, and the Republican Party in the period following the previous party congress, make honest assessments and talk about the future of our state and the party.
Dear Colleagues,
– The reality is that today every fifth passenger leaves Armenia with a one-way ticket, and this is indeed a ‘record’ statistic, of course in a negative sense. Hold on for a second, and try to imagine the degree of this disaster.
While we are talking about the challenges facing our country, many families are just bidding farewell to their relatives with tears in their eyes and cherish a secret hope for a safe refuge in a foreign country.
– The reality is that today almost every third citizen is poor in Armenia, and this figure has drastically worsened over the last two years. According to the World Bank’s upper poverty line, 47.6% of the population is poor in Armenia. Meanwhile, only three years ago, people had an average satisfaction of basic needs.
– The reality is that following the 44-day war 35,000 Artsakh-based Armenians, or more than 8,000 families were left homeless as their homes went under the control of Azerbaijan. This is not just naked statistics: this is human destinies, family cemeteries lost to the enemy, childhood memories, lost fortune and jeopardized identity.
– The reality is that 5,000 families lost their hope in the 44-day war as many of those killed in the war were the only breadwinner in the family. Around 5,000 young people did not celebrate their wedding; 5,000 Armenian families never established, and no children were born. This demographic tragedy was exacerbated by the global pandemic, which took thousands of innocent lives and left bitter statistics and distorted destinies.
At the end of 2020 the lowest 70-year demographic curve was registered in Armenia because the rate of deaths and births had almost equaled. That is indeed a huge catastrophe. This anti-national government of individuals without sense of homelands ‘washed their hands’ like Pontius Pilate did by turning their backs on our compatriots, leavings our soldiers alone on the battlefield. With the families of these soldiers they tried to justify their own inaptitude by calling the Armenian soldiers deserters, while the healthcare system’s failures were represented as an international norm.
The data for this year is yet to be summarised obviously, but the first 10 months of 2021 compared to the same period of last year yielded death rate increase by 6.3 percent.
– The reality is that our society is polarized, demoralized and hurt today more than ever. Surveys have shown that about 70% of citizens are not interested in political processes. People have become indifferent and refuse to face reality by virtue of their self-defense instinct. Can we blame our compatriots for despair? Have we been able to give hope in their hearts with our actions? We have a share of responsibility in this matter, and we will talk about it today indeed.https://www.facebook.com/v3.2/plugins/quote.php?app_id=468673766529308&channel=https%3A%2F%2Fstaticxx.facebook.com%2Fx%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2F%3Fversion%3D46%23cb%3Df100e3e3ab374a8%26domain%3Dhetq.am%26is_canvas%3Dfalse%26origin%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fhetq.am%252Ffc94bbd966e2b8%26relation%3Dparent.parent&container_width=930&href=https%3A%2F%2Fhetq.am%2Fen%2Farticle%2F139160&locale=en_US&sdk=joey
– The reality is that our hard-earned national security, our diplomatic, military, and no less important digital sovereignty have been dilapidated.
– The reality is, our country partakes in the negotiations as an economic and legal entity, while we are a nation-state with our distinct national identity. They can dull the vigilance of people with different propaganda tricks, feed them with epic lies and keep in the so-called digital ‘Matrix’ – one where the yogurt is black and the political leader is making victories only with a “strict” look. None of this can last long. You cannot make fools of people permanently; you should not hide behind disappointed and discouraged people to protect yourself from words of reason and common sense.
– The reality is that as a result of a nationwide disaster they are trying to remove human dignity from the national agenda in our country. Who is the man without dignity? Note that dignity is not just a word. It is an inalienable human right. They are trying to deprive our compatriots of this right following the act of capitulation, exacerbated by national humiliation and the lack of security guarantees when political opponents and their supporters are deprived of their right to private life and wiretapped routinely.
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