Wednesday, 13 May 2009
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan visited the ministries of education and science, labor and social affairs, agriculture to introduce the newly appointed ministers: Armen Ashotyan, Gevorga Petrosyan and Gerasim Alaverdyan.
Introducing Armen Ashotyan to the staff of the RA Ministry of Education and Science and congratulating him on appointment, the Prime Minister underscored that outgoing minister Spartak Seiranyan had been quite efficacious in office, and added that he respected political partners’ decisions.
“I have the honor to introduce the newly appointed minister - Armen Ashotyan - who was active as Member of Parliament. He used to come up with new ideas and initiatives, including on the educational system. He knows the problems facing the educational system in essence. I am convinced that assisted by the ministry staff, he can smoothly pass on to the accomplishment of his new duties. The ministry has a primary task consisting in the improvement of system quality and in this regard, much has to be done together. ARFD’s quitting the coalition has a political background. We have the greatest respect for our political partners’ decision regardless of whether we agree with it or not. This is a civilized form of government proceedings which is setting a new tradition in the country. Ministers are political figures in Armenia. They attend that the government’s policy line is enforced strictly. This means that ministries should be staffed with skilled professionals so as the machinery functions properly irrespective of which political force is in command.
From this perspective, we very much value your efforts and your skills. I would like to take this opportunity and thank Spartak Seiranyan for the work done so far. He is a man of principle, fair and honest. I am convinced that Mr. Seiranyan will play a key role in the strengthening of our State at any post entrusted to him. Moreover, I trust that the government will be even stronger having Mr. Seiranyan as its opponent. Constructive oppositions help governments be more vigilant in matters of principle. I am convinced that the society will be on the winning side. We are going to have an oppositional force in the person the ARFD, and I am convinced that the coming generations will learn a lot on this type of relationships as we usher in a new stage of statehood building activities.”
Introducing Gevorg Petrosyan to the staff of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and congratulating him on appointment, the Prime Minister said in particular:
“Gevorg Petrosyan has long experience in social questions-related jurisprudence. I am convinced that many of you are familiar with his works. In his person, we have a well-trained young politician blessed with the exclusive possibility of supervising an important sector. The social sector takes on special importance in crisis when social issues come to the foreground. Curbing poverty in Armenia is a target for us. Our task has become more complicated due to the global crisis as several thousands of households proved on the verge of poverty, and we should make additional efforts to ease their burden.
Mr. Petrosyan assumes the ministry in time of hardship. Nevertheless, I am convinced that his long experience and deep knowledge will allow him to cope with the tasks set before your ministry.
Congratulating the newly appointed minister, I would like to compliment outgoing minister Arsen Hambardzumyan for efficacious work. He is a young politician, too, and I feel that the ministerial term in office will be decisive in his future activity. In the person of Mr. Hambardzumyan, we will have such an opponent as will help us always be on the watch as to the threats facing the ministry.”
Introducing Gerasim Alaverdyan to the staff of the RA Ministry of Agriculture and congratulating him on appointment, the Prime Minister noticed:
“I have the honor of introducing to you newly appointed Minister Gerasim Alaverdyan. Many of you know him as a professional who is well aware of the programs of the government and the problems available in agriculture. Congratulating our colleague on this appointment, I wish to remind that the post of minister is a political post to be held by politicians who must see from a political perspective that the designed policies are implemented in full. In this regard, we need highly skilled professionals, and I am convinced that the ministry is just staffed with such qualified experts. This is the pledge of a smooth portfolio takeover and I feel that together with you, we will be able to meet the proposed targets in full and in time. Also, I wish to thank outgoing minister Aramayis Grigoryan. While we worked with him for a short period of time, nevertheless we managed to get friends. His outstanding human qualities make him is easy and pleasant to work with.
I am convinced that Mr. Grigoryan will continue assisting us and that his advice, his comments will be quite useful for the newly appointed minister.”
The newly appointed ministers thanked the President and the Prime Minister of Armenia and assured of their readiness to honorably fulfill the tasks set before them.
