Tuesday, 10 November 2015
PM Attends World Youth Day-Dated Festive Event
Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian attended a World Youth Day-dedicated festive event at the Sports and Concerts Complex after Karen Demirchyan in Yerevan. The Premier congratulated the youth on the occasion, as well as the students – on the upcoming International Students’ Day.
The Head of Government noted that the youth and especially the students are the future of our country. In Hovik Abrahamyan’s words, they are our future scientists, scholars, politicians and all those who will have to make decisions on behalf of the whole country and nation.
"You are a generation born in independent Armenia; you have had much more opportunities to get both academic and any other information about the world. I am convinced that you will be able to do much more for yourself, your families and the country, in general, than your ancestors have done.
The outstanding technological advance that can be called a breakthrough comes to reaffirm and emphasize that human capital is of much more importance than natural resources in the modern world. You for yourself and for the whole nation are doomed to become the human capital to compete with and even triumph over the sellers of natural resources.
The world was transformed overnight before the eyes of a single generation. Your generation will witness even more radical and visible transformations. Your children will choose a professional career about which you have no idea, because there are no such professions today. I am talking about tomorrow’s world and tomorrow’s Armenia. I just mean the society to be represented by you,” Hovik Abrahamyan said, adding that any society can be competitive and have a place of its own in the world only if it is a well-organized democratic and free society. The Prime Minister stressed that the constitutional reform is the key to that objective.
“It is just for that kind of changes that constitutional reforms were initiated by President Serzh Sargsyan personally. The parliamentary system of governance will dramatically speed up the process of democratization in our country. This is a system where political parties, ideas, principles rather than individuals are competing with each other. We should trust in people and respect their choice. This is the only way to competitiveness in the modern world.
Some people say (I have been told so repeatedly) that the parliamentary system is not bad in principle, but our political parties and our society are not ready for such a move. My answer is clear. “When then will we be ready?” If we fail to act now, we will not be ready tomorrow. Challenges, obstacles must be defied; answers should be given to the problems instead of finding excuses, saying that we are not ready. In this way, we will never be ready for anything.
I am convinced that the constitutional reform is just the one to promote the formation of important and influential political parties in our country. Those not ready yet will have to get ready; who are not yet sufficiently mature will have to get mature. This is the only way forward,” Hovik Abrahamyan pointed out.
As the Prime Minister noted, an important criterion for any society’s viability is the opportunity for promotion offered to the youth. In any field (whether entrepreneurship, civil service or other) young people should enjoy growth prospects and possibilities.
“The proposed system offers wider opportunities for mutual surveillance and counterbalances. You are the first ones to be interested in the reform. If you are to be successful, then you should seek fair and free competition rather than protectionism.
Those political parties structured around a single person have no future in a civilized society, including Armenia. Our nation’s collective power can only manifest itself in the parliamentary system. I do not mean lack of personal responsibility or absence of leaders. Moreover, I am convinced that many of you in this hall have the necessary knowledge and skills to become leaders. I mean the imperative of empowering and monitoring the aforementioned collective power of the Armenian people.
Dear youth, make a better place of your country and know that we stand ready to redouble your efforts. We are with you,” the Prime Minister said convinced that today more than ever we need solidarity and tolerance. “I am confident that together we can move our country forward. This is our future,” Hovik Abrahamyan concluded.
