Armenian President says it's time to act

PanARMENIAN.Net - Today, on April 9, reelected Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan was sworn in to a second term during Armenian National Assembly’s special meeting. He further delivered a speech.

“I express my gratitude to our citizens for their active turnout at the presidential elections. I thank those who once again entrusted me with the task of serving as President of the Republic of Armenia.

I also thank those who cast their votes for other candidates. Thereby they expressed their discontent with the problems existing in the country. By doing so, they sent a clear message to the authorities, demanding more efficient work. Rest assured that all messages are duly received.

Today, through taking this Oath, I once again assumed great responsibility, the awareness of which has never left me for one second through the past five years. The Gospel that belonged to Catholicos’s Mother, on which I took my oath, is over a thousand years old. It is an exceptional honor to become the leader of a nation with such historical and cultural roots. At this solemn moment I pledge to hold high this honor.

For any President, a second term stipulates its advantages but also difficulties. The greatest advantage is, certainly, the experience gained, which is of immense value in this line of work. The extra difficulties relate to increased expectations of the people and higher demands. I will do my best to deliver on these expectations and meet these demands.

For the forthcoming five years, I consider our state’s and nation’s economic development as a top priority. A whole array of problems that Armenia is facing is in this very plane. Let me highlight three main ones: emigration, unemployment, and poverty. The solutions for these problems are to be found on the same field. Efficient economy is the tool to our success.

The second priority is in ensuring the rule of law. Equality of everyone before the law is a binding prerequisite both for our economic and political advancement.

Deepening of democracy is the third priority. Comparison between Armenia of five years ago and present-day Armenia will reveal progress in the freedom of speech, press, and association, professionalism of NGOs and the civil society in general. I promise that we will not be contented with the achievements. Five years from now, we will attain a qualitatively different, far more advanced democracy. I shall not accomplish this alone, we will do it together, dear compatriots.

Coercion, violence, terror, war; these are our opponent’s notions of reality. They are trying to impose upon us the same notions they force on their own people.

We have rejected these terms, and will never accept them. We are creating a different reality, like I said: economic growth, the rule of law, strengthening of democracy. The word “Armenia” must first of all entail these notions. These are the arguments we present to our adversaries and the entire world.

We offered our neighbors dignified peace, anchored to universal human values. But the experience of recent years has demonstrated that they are not ready to accept the offer. The tougher, in their own opinion, conditions they create for us, the stronger we become. And this will be becoming increasingly more salient.

Our main advantage is in the entrepreneurial spirit and the talent of our nation. Our young men and women, working in the area of modern technologies, maintain the security of our country, like our soldiers do. Any one, who works honestly and produces value, does the same.

Our main task is to increase opportunities for such people to express themselves. Let us provide these people with the opportunity and they will do the rest, they will generate, create, develop.

We also have to ensure dynamic development of Armenia-Diaspora cooperation. I am confident that together we can accomplish much more. We have to maximally engage the potential of the Diaspora, its human potential first and foremost. Every competitive and development-oriented investment project will receive support by Armenian authorities.

Through the electoral campaign we all enjoyed ample opportunities for exposure and introducing our programs. At the same time, each of us was eager to get our ideas down fully and succinctly. Elections do not mark a destination; they signify a new phase. This is the phase for unrelenting and persistent work. The time has come to turn words into action, o reinforce words with work.”