Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today recalled the “Six National Consensuses” he had voiced at the rally held in Stepanakert on 5 August 2019.
The head of government said that they are “the cornerstone and formula of pan-Armenianism and national unity.”
Below we present the six provisions recalled by the Prime Minister.
“Consensus number 1: violence must be excluded from the toolkit for resolving any Armenian issue; in our reality, resolving issues among ourselves through violence must be excluded. All those forces and individuals who view violence as a means of resolving any intra-Armenian issue must be rejected and cast into the dustbin of Armenian history. The vision of a people free from violence must become the cornerstone provision of our national unification. Incidentally, in this context there is only one exception, namely the application of legitimate violence, in the context of preventing and detecting crimes and ensuring the normal life of the public.
Consensus number 2: the people and their free expression of will are the sole source of power. Any attempt to distort or falsify the will of the people must be regarded as anti-state, anti-national activity. In this regard, I consider it extremely important that the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in the Republic of Artsakh be held in a free, competitive, democratic environment and that real guarantees of the people’s free expression of will be ensured. The Republic of Armenia must accordingly act and does act as a guarantor of the free expression of will of the people of Artsakh and of the formation of legitimate power through that expression of will.
Consensus number 3: the sovereignty of the Armenian people of Armenia and Artsakh is a supreme value, and all those forces who attempt to involve foreign powers in resolving intra-Armenian, intra-Armenian-state issues, all those forces who act in our country as representatives of foreign interests, shall and do receive the harshest reaction from the Armenian people and its legitimate (legal—Ed.) representative, the Government of Armenia.
Consensus number 4: Armenia and Artsakh must be free of corruption (bribery—Ed.). All manifestations of corruption, including patronage, artificial monopolies, the creation of artificial obstacles against competitors, must be eradicated. Material damages caused to the state and the people as a result of corrupt activity must be restored.
Consensus number 5: the rule of law and the supremacy of law, the equality of all before the law, must become the axis of intra-national relations. The existence of courts subject to external or internal influences is a threat to national security. The courts in Armenia and Artsakh must be independent. The presence of individuals from privileged circles in the economy, politics and any sphere of public life must be excluded. I want to make a comment, dear people, we have many worthy people, the Armenian nation has given many worthy sons, but it is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated when someone renders service to the people and the homeland and then tries to sell that service in the form of being privileged, in the form of being above the law.
Consensus number 6: the most important consensus. The goal of the negotiation process for the settlement of the Artsakh issue must be the protection of the results of the Artsakh liberation struggle waged for the self-determination and security of the people of Artsakh; any solution deemed acceptable by the governments of Armenia and Artsakh as a result of the negotiations can be considered acceptable only in the event of popular approval in Armenia and Artsakh. Dear people, I consider it especially important to emphasise this principle in order to show that it is simply meaningless to suspect the Government of Armenia of any possible conspiracy against Artsakh. Conspiracy is excluded precisely by virtue of the genealogy of our Government. We have appeared at the negotiating table for the settlement of the Artsakh issue as the legitimate representative of the people, and therefore, at that negotiating table we can defend only the desires and aspirations of the people, rely only on the desires and aspirations of the people, and become the exponent of the desires and aspirations of the people. Consensus number six gives each of us a guarantee by which any conspiracy theory, even the most improbable, must be eradicated.”
