Serzh Sargsyan’s statement on the eighth anniversary of his resignation.

Dear people,

I am addressing you not as a politician, but as an Armenian, as a person whose life and destiny are inseparable from this land and water, this country. Our party has already announced its decision not to participate in the upcoming elections. This is not just a political position, but a unified, considered and argued decision, a historical decision.

In the spring of 2018, when my team and I left, we did so in compliance with your will. Eight years ago, in my resignation statement, I wrote a sentence that, due to the editing of one of the beneficiaries of the text and the subsequent manipulation of my “great” friends, they tried to make a stigma for me.

I have made right and wrong decisions throughout my life. My most correct and difficult decision was “breaking my own promise” and 2018. was to be nominated for the post of prime minister.

Unfortunately, it was also my biggest mistake, because I failed to explain to our people that the purpose of my nomination was not to keep the power, but to ensure the security of Karabakh and Armenia. Yes, Nicole was right, she was ready to go all the way and had no red line, I shouldn’t have run. And I made a mistake, thinking that we will be able to explain to our people that my departure in a difficult negotiation situation will lead to a disaster. It was obvious to me that changing the negotiator at that stage of the negotiations, nullifying the history of the negotiations will have a tragic consequence. something that happened. Not that I was the best negotiator, but that I deeply knew all the parties participating in the negotiations, had institutional memory and knew the value of Karabakh and the victory as a member of the team that created that victory and then kept it.

Yes, Nikol was right: I could not explain, but he managed to deceive our people.

2018 As a result of running for prime minister, I lost a lot, from not being understood to being rejected by my people as a result, but years later, I can say for sure that I would go through that purgatory again because I was sure that we would avoid any disaster that way.

I could not explain to the people because the people did not want to listen. I was “wrong” to be right.

In 2018, I was nominated to guarantee the security of Armenia and Artsakh, so that there would be no bloodshed at the borders, then I resigned in order to prevent bloodshed within the borders. And today, eight years after my resignation, a strong part of the people believes that Nikol’s power exists as long as the “formers” are in the first line of the political struggle against him.

I submit to this demand of the people as well. if the participation of me and the Republican party will contribute even one percent to the reproduction of today’s administration, we are taking a step back in order to give people the opportunity to express their will soberly, without emotions, and for the other opposition forces to make their promise of a change of power a reality without hindrance.

I started my career with the formation of the self-defense forces of Artsakh and considered it the greatest honor of my life to be a participant in the creation of the victory of our people and to preserve that victory. During its administration, the Republican Party has done everything for the sake of safe Armenia and Armenian Artsakh, to preserve and cherish the greatest victory of the Armenian people in the last hundred years. Of course, there have been mistakes and disappointments, but, in my deep conviction, those mistakes are forgivable and recoverable, and the proof of this is that today we go out among our people with an open front and a clear conscience.

It is no secret that the Republican Party did not want to participate in the 2021 elections, but we had to take that step. Unlike the unequivocal victory preached by the opposition, sociology suggested something else. We took part in those elections in order to try to prevent the final betrayal and surrender of Artsakh. It was obvious that the impostor who signed the capitulation with the lie that “we will win” for 44 days, who promised the de-occupation of Artsakh in the 2021 campaign, would actually surrender Artsakh behind the people and leave Artsakh Armenians alone against the enemy, as a result opening the gates of Armenia to the enemy.

Months ago, the Republican Party proposed the impeachment bill as the only realistic way to get rid of these authorities. It was clear to us that they and their foreign sponsors have already started falsifying the elections, imprisoning dissidents, distributing election bribes from the budget at the expense of doubling the state debt, and turning a blind eye to the growing illegalities.

In our opinion, fair and competitive elections were impossible under these conditions. However, unfortunately, our parliamentary colleagues chose a different path, waiting for the elections. I wish them success in justifying that decision.

I am convinced that in order to ensure the victory of the opposition in this situation, a large unification is necessary to prevent the dusting of votes, which will serve the interests of the current administration. The Republican party will continue to maintain its weighty role as an extra-parliamentary force for the sake of historical memory, dignity and the Armenian dream.

The group that uprooted Armenia, brought it to its knees, buried it in debt and flooded it with lies must leave. The alternative is terrible – horror for our country, our people and the next generation. It’s terrible for them, they just don’t realize it yet. It is necessary to wake up so that it is not too late.

Dignified peace, logic and harmony to our country and people.

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