Citizens are not just electorate, they are the source of legitimacy, says Arme

A senior Armenian lawmaker has said that strong democracy depends on effective communication between politicians and citizens.

Speaking at a panel discussion during the Yerevan Dialogue 2026, MP Sargis Khandanyan from the ruling Civil Contract party and Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs said that politicians often fail when they treat people only as voters rather than as the source of their legitimacy.

The moderator of the discussion, Gayane Abrahamyan, addressing Sargis Khandanyan, noted that past experience has shown that countries choosing the path of democracy end up facing war. She cited the example of Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, asking Khandanyan what role parliaments play in protecting democracy.

“That narrative was proven wrong, that democracy brings war,” the Armenian MP said.

“And the best democracy is good communication. We need to provide people with better communication. And sometimes politicians fail treating citizens as electorate. But they are source of our legitimacy, and we need to go down and talk to the people. And those politicians, those political parties who are able to go to listen to people and to talk to people, they are successful, and this will be also proven in a month in Armenia. So I think it is very important sometimes to go out from the digital space and talk to the people physically. And I would like to narrow down one specific group of people which is the most challenging now, it is young people. Not only in Armenia, everywhere else young people are getting more disintegrated from politics, from decision making, so it is very important also to talk to young people to see what they are thinking about their lives, their future and to adapt our policies and adapt our narratives to their priorities. That is, I believe, the most challenging part, because in Armenia we have many young politicians, as you can see, but me as a young politician, I blame the previous generations of politicians for leaving the conflict and the problems as a burden on our shoulders to solve. And now we do not have the right to do the same, I do not want to be blamed by future politicians for leaving problems unsolved for them.”