On 1 March, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan convened a rally in the Republic Square.
Before beginning his speech, he first asked to observe a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the Artsakh war and the victims of 1 March, 2008. Before that, the RA national anthem was played.
“You know that we are going through very difficult times, we have reasons to worry and concerns, but I want us to fill each other with energy, joy, spirit, and optimism today, in this square, on the first day of this spring,” Pashinyan said.
“I have thought a lot about where I went wrong. Such concrete cases can be enumerated. But more important is why we made a mistake, why our political team made a mistake. Strange as it may seem, one of the biggest reasons for our mistakes was that we were loved as a government,” Nikol Pashinyan said.
He mentioned that they were so popular that, trying to justify that popular love, their love for the people and the homeland, they wanted to do everything accurately and perfectly.
“And the search for perfection in many cases has led to inactivity. Sometimes, due to the situation, the choice between ‘bad’ and ‘worst’ was inevitable, but we refused to make that choice, thinking that the people did not bring us to power so that we could set the worse or the worst before the people,” Pashinyan said.
“Finally, it must be admitted that the Constitution written in 2015 and entered into force in 2018 showed many shortcomings,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced in the square.
He mentioned that in October of this year we will adopt a new Constitution or constitutional amendments through a nationwide referendum.
“Ultimately, the transition to a semi-presidential system of government should be one of the possible options. We must carry out this process in conditions of close cooperation with the National Assembly, the Government, the President, the Political forces and the Civil Society. Before that, there are articles in the Constitution that the amendment does not presuppose a referendum; they can be changed through a vote in the National Assembly,” he said.
“Serzh Sargsyan tried to incite some generals of the Armed Forces to come out against the state,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.
“The statement of the General Staff is the result of the military influence of the ruling circles, including in 2008. This is not an assumption, but a concrete substantiated circumstance. Among them is Serzh Sargsyan, using his influence among some generals of the Armed Forces, to try to incite them to come out against the state and the people. That statement of the General Staff is absolutely illegal.
The statement of the General Staff makes the dismissal of Onik Gasparyan from the post of the Chief of General Staff inevitable.
The head of the General Staff who makes a political statement, moreover, makes that statement at the urging of Serzh Sargsyan and the previous government, the Republicans, who want to stifle the popular will like in 2008 under the tracks of tanks. The General Staff of Armenia cannot have such a head,” հe said.
“You have raised me to the status of the Prime Minister and you, only you can remove me from this status,” Nikol Pashinyan stated in the Republic Square.
“First of all, if the parliamentary forces accept our proposal, formulated in late December, yes, we will agree to early parliamentary elections, because we are convinced that the people are also able to establish a legitimate government in Armenia by their free will.
“I give the second chance, I throw this challenge, let’s go to the people’s elections, let’s see whose resignation the people demand,” Pashinyan said.
Nikol Pashinyan was exited during his speech.
“Long live freedom, long live the Republic of Armenia, long live us, our children, who will live in a free and happy Armenia, long live Artsakh, long live the Armenians, long live our army, our heroic army, our soldiers, our heroic generals, our heroic officers, our victims , their relatives, their mothers, their fathers, their wives and children.! I bow to all of you, I bow to all of you, and if you can forgive us and all, all of our mistakes,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today, on 1 March, during the rally in the Republic Square.
During the march, applause, whistles and greetings were heard regularly.
The march ended near Myasnikyan statue. Pashyanyan and the officials accompanying them laid flowers at Myasnikyan’s statue.
