Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan Calls For Dialog With “Against” Movement Representatives
Dear Colleagues, I would like to start today’s session with a question that has been troubling our youth and society, namely the funded pension system reform. First of all, I want to note that civil society is being formed in the Republic of Armenia, which dictates its own rules. This means that as a government, we must reconsider our activities to take into consideration the fact that our most important task is to promote and foster civil society.
Secondly, this movement has brought together young people who have turned to us with a lot of letters expressing concerns about the reform. At the same time, the letters translate their concern about the reform and responsibility for the future of our country. They are saying: we love this country and want it to have a bright future.
The letters are undersigned by thousands of young people who are involved in the IT sector. We hereby declare that we are ready for dialog, because the “everything or nothing” principle is unacceptable to both the Government and the youth who represent the civil society.
We are ready for dialog, acknowledging that the laws, especially the most complex reform-related ones, may not be without flaws: there are shortfalls indicated by our opponents. We declare that the right way is the way of dialog, and we invite our young partners to engage in dialog.
At the same time, I do believe that giving up the “everything or nothing” principle might be useful for all of us, which means that the “Against” movement should be reshaped and become a movement for our country’s future, for the sake of reform - a reform supported by our youth.
This is our message to the representatives of the “Against” movement. As I noted in my National Assembly statement, we are enthusiastic about the youth activity. We likewise understand that various political forces are trying to speculate over it, but the mere fact that the young people involved in the movement refrain from political declarations reaffirms our conviction that dialog is crucial to our state’s future.
