National Assembly of RA (press release), Armenia
Sept 16 2005
Statement by Artur Baghdasaryan, President of the National Assembly
of the Republic of Armenia
Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
The involvement of the parliaments in settling global issues has
become imperative. In the context of democratization and spread of
democracy the role of parliaments is important for several reasons,
among which I may specify the following: first, democracy is the
shortest and the most efficient way of meeting the challenges of the
millennium – terrorism, violation of human rights, hunger and
poverty. Strong parliament means developed and viable democracy. In
this respect, it is significant to guarantee in the state legislation
on the constitutional level the power of the parliament and reject
any attempt of its restriction. Parliament, to my mind, is the
institution most closely related to the people. Open parliament means
that we strive for a parliament directed by the principle of
transparency, ready for cooperation and open to the world. In this
respect, it is imperative to develop inter-parliamentary cooperation
as one of the best ways to achieve spread of democracy.
Active dialogue between all democratic institutions and individuals
provides us with an opportunity to coordinate our activities in the
framework of joint goals and projects. We are ready for collaboration
and open for any democratic initiative. Unfortunately, our
Azerbaijani colleagues use all possible floors only to reprimand and
denounce Armenia, instead of speaking about development of democracy
in the region, advance of cooperation and establishing good relations
with neighbors. Everyone knows what the reality is. The Karabakh
conflict was about the fight of the Karabakh people for their right
for self-determination and freedom, which it managed to gain through
a war that was unleashed by Azerbaijan itself.
Presently, we are going through a 10-year-long peace process, which
is actively combined with the efforts of the international community
seeking a solution to the Karabakh issue. Armenia has always been
advocating for regional cooperation as a confidence-building measure.
In this context, any destructive policy aimed at isolating any of the
countries of the region is unacceptable and would be threatening the
stability in the region. And the current issues should be resolved
through a constructive dialogue and not aggressive calls, which
should stay in the past.
In this view, I would like to mention the active dialogues we have
had in our region, where different aspects of resolving our problems
were discussed, In years 2003-2005, I had meetings with the speakers
of the parliaments of the Southern Caucasus. According to the
memorandum signed, the Southern Caucasus Parliamentary Assembly will
start its activity on January the 1st , 2007. I am certain, it will
contribute greatly to resolution of problems in Southern Caucasus and
we will have a conflict-free and democratic region.
The process of democratization is one of the challenges inside our
country as only a democratic country can have a progressive society
committed to the principles of justice, equality and freedom. We
understand the necessity of this process in the social and political
life of our country and we can say that the National Assembly has
taken important steps in this direction having adopted Electoral Code
and implementing constitutional reforms, which will stand for
democratization of power, as well as for just, transparent and
democratic elections. We are certain that only just and transparent
elections can provide ground for investments and bring trust towards
our country. They say a ballot is stronger than a bullet. We will be
happy to present our tradition, culture and democracy to the
international community. I agree that our democracy is still young.
But being young doesn’t mean being amateur. We should share our
vision with the world and adopt the valuable experiences of other
democratic countries.
There are two ways of spreading light: you can light a candle or you
can be the mirror that reflects it.
Thank you, Mr. President