Serzh Sargsyan: Destabilization in Armenia hinders economic growth

Foreign or domestic destabilization hinders Armenia’s economic growth. Human rights and freedoms are priorities, but they should be exercised within logic. Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan made such statement in an interview with local Shant TV.

“If exercised within logic, basic human rights will in no way hamper economic development. But when they become unproportionate and grow into traffic jams in Yerevan, how can they have a positive effect?” Serzh Sargsyan said.

He recalled that Armenia has had only a single year of domestic and foreign stability during recent years. “How many stable years did we have during these 10 years? I mean, both domestic and foreign stability. Perhaps, 2017 was the only year when no rallies were held in the streets and tourists could arrive in Yerevan and investors could invest. It was the only year and we registered economic growth of 7.5% that year. We need only few years, a few years to make that growth felt by the people. Of course, discontents happen anyway, because the better people live the more demands they have. Our task is to achieve a minimum level for the people to be able to realize at least half of their desires. That’s the problem,” the prime minister said.

To recall, protests and civil disobedience actions initiated by Nikol Pashinyan, oppositionist MP, leader of #MyStep movement, are aimed against election of Serzh Sargsyan, the ex-president, leader of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) as prime minister. Protesters planned to block the avenue leading to the parliament building on April 17 to prevent voting for Serzh Sargsyan’s election as prime minister. However, the police took unprecedented measures to lead parliamentarians into the building and ensure the voting. The parliament was surrounded with police, special equipment and wired fencing from all sides.

Pashinyan announced a start of a “Velvet Revolution” and urged protesters to block governmental buildings. Today, on April 19, Pashinyan and his supporters planned to block the building of the Cabinet to prevent the first session with participation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan.