President
Report by Serzh Sargsyan Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia at the 17th Party Congress. 2
18.12.2021
Dear Colleagues,
This congress is also a unique watershed moment. Today and here, we, as a political force, will mark the end of this stage of our self-cleansing process. By the results of our elections we will reaffirm the determination of those Republicans who are standing firm in the defense of our shared values, and we will bid farewell to those party members unprepared to continue struggling together in the political trenches. They cannot have a place in our ranks. It may seem that in the past three years we have already gone through the most difficult trials. But no, dear friends, sure you understand that the most difficult times are not behind yet. We, as a political force, must be ready to stand up and fight back vehemently against those scoundrels that are sleepwalking our state and the future of our children to complete destruction. Each of you here and thousands of Republicans outside this hall should ask themselves and answer honestly whether they are ready for sacrifices. The following responses shall be seen as the condition for remaining in the party ranks:
- Yes, we are ready to protect our national values for good;
- Yes, we will not retreat from struggling for security and sovereignty of Armenia and Artsakh;
- Yes, we will defend our language, culture and the Church against the onslaught of alien elements;
- Yes, we will protect our national dignity, our holy land and the state, and not let down the memory of the fallen heroes martyred for our land and the statehood.
The Republican party is holding this congress in a new status, in political opposition, unlike the previous ones. Accordingly, this time the reports will be largely different from the reports made at our previous regular party gatherings where we presented our priorities of state policy in different areas and the steps taken to implement them.
Being a member of a ruling party is completely different from acting in opposition. This is true not only for the Republican Party. Neither it is just an Armenian experience. All of you here and thousands of our fellow party members have gone through this transformation or, if you will, a unique test. Some yielded under pressure and this pressure was a fierce one under indiscriminate attacks by the populist authorities, one that was featured with clear lawlessness, political persecution, defamation and targeting of families and children. Not everyone was ready to endure, fight back and keep up the spirit of resistance. Some others were simply opportunists that prefer to be in comfort and who at most trying times abandon their political family to serve their private interests and seeking personal comfort elsewhere. Regretfully, the Republican Party was not without such people in our ranks.
This was a process that we all had to endure before we were able to consolidate. I will not discuss that unfortunate type of people, as they have always existed in the history of mankind and will continue to be in many places. Same as many other flimsy phenomena that we must face and prevail permanently.
Numerous important issues have piled up over the past five years, some of which we have addressed in the course of the past period. We have also issued a few dozens of political statements as the situation continued to evolve in the country. This regular congress is an opportunity to summarize the path we have covered, and respond in greater detail to the issues of paramount interest to you and to our society. After all, what has happened in the past five years? Why and how could the populists manage to come to power in our country? What is going on in our state now? What serious issues we are facing and what are the security challenges threatening Armenia and Artsakh? What is the geopolitical environment we find ourselves in? What shall be done to prevent the national decay and disunion, the depletion of the great potential of our national worldwide that has always been united in the issues of pan-Armenian significance? How to roll back the current trend of downward spiral?
As you see, I am not delivering a ceremonial speech at this congress, but talking to you in a straightforward manner and I expect you will reciprocate.
It will hardly be any exaggeration to say that the past period has been the most difficult one in the history of our people and the party.
So let me start by thanking all devoted party members and dedicated supporters, owing to whom the Republican Party remained in Armenia’s political life in spite of numerous illegalities committed by the ruling regime, including their perverse inclination to get the law-enforcement agencies to serve their private interests. Today the Republican party remains one of the champions in the struggle for the sovereignty and security of both Armenia and Artsakh. None of us has forgotten that the Republicans and our supporters used to be the sole target of this anti-national junta when they were seizing power, long before certain political forces and individuals began to understand the real motives of the so-called ‘velvet’ so-called ‘revolution’, and as they say – began judging the tree by its fruits.
In the course of these five years we have witnessed unprecedented degree of ups and downs. We have seen both a country with its clear standing and role, as well as enjoyed respect in the international community, exhibited national dignity and had stable progress of a victorious nations. We have also witnessed, unfortunately, the catastrophic policies of these populists that deceived our people three and a half years ago by clearly demonstrated support of foreign powers and regime change technologies successfully employed in other countries. These people have trampled our national values, intentionally undermined and weakened the foundations of our statehood, seeded division and demoralized our society so deeply that this Overton window, widely opened by these calamitous authorities, is pouring anti-state and anti-national narratives on a daily basis with no unified pushback of our people or any criticism, unlike what we had as a healthy society with a sense of national dignity before.
This is something called “loser’s psychology”. These capitulator authorities are aggravating the situation intentionally: they are trying to demoralize the nation and the society; they are trying to curb the national resistance with false calls for “peace,” instill fears and reduce the national self-esteem by gravely minimising our past victories and forcing our people to bend before the enemy in embarrassing scenes.
At some point this chain of events became a monstrous mechanism for self-destruction of our nation. This clock started ticking in April 2018, but in fact it was winded well before and by gradually poisoning the society it approached the day when it was launched. In the course of the past three and a half years I have had various opportunities in different formats – like interviews, press conferences, briefings, speeches, partisan events and other meetings – to speak about these issues and present my views. Today I will reiterate some of the important viewpoints expressed earlier.
I resigned in 2018 wishing peace, harmony and sense of reason to the country. I left to pacify our people, which had been deceived, manipulated and poisoned with great portions of lies and disinformation by these populists and their foreign sponsors which had clearly geopolitical goals. I left not to allow bloodshed in our country and to give opportunity for the thousands of people in the square to build the country of their dreams and to continue with the same enthusiasm and demand the would-be government to honor every promise they gave and be accountable to the people. I would only be happy if that was the case, and if peace, harmony and sense of reason ruled in the country. All of this has, unfortunately, been reduced to zero in the past three and a half years.
Today many people can see the real goals behind the veil of so-called “velvet and people’s revolution”. Obviously I was standing in the way of those who proposed a heavy dilemma at the hands of these puppets: either to resign or to stay in power by using force in my own country and allowing a bloodshed. It is not difficult to imagine the scenarios that the screenwriters or real beneficiaries of this so-called “revolution” would have for Armenia – calling its leader a dictator, labeling us as rogue state etc, would trigger new waves of protests to bring instability to continue pushing for my resignation. These people would be utmost disinterested in the fact that domestic instability seriously increased the external threat level, that it instantly was bringing more escalation on the border and the enemy was ready to seize such opportunities. They could not care less, but even maybe intentionally pursued this goal. But I did care. And took due consideration of all of it.
Our government was standing in the way of all those, whose thinking about Artsakh and the future of Armenia did not match with ours. We did not belong to anyone, we were native and pursued our own national interests – something not in tune with their aspirations. My goal in 2018 was not clinging to power. My goal was to protect Artsakh, and by extension – also Armenia. I was nominated for the position of the Prime Minister only and purely to further strenghten our already strong negotiating positions in the peace process and try to avert the tragedy we are living through today. Wasn’t it clear enough that unfavorable resolution of the Artsakh issue would cost dearly on Armenia too? I was convinced in that and pursuing exactly that, whereas I was accused of desiring to remain in power forever, and did everything possible to remove me.
These days I am still being asked – why have I not used force against the protesters? I said in the past, and reiterate now: it’s easy to be talking tall retrospectively. It’s genuinely easy to, at first, say that it was due to my decision not to use force in 2018 which allowed for a bloodless transition from that chaos and it was right, and now, witnessing the consequences of that power grab, change hearts and say it was wrong. I assure you all – no foreign actor can achieve any success in your country if it does not have supporters internally, some sort of a Trojan horse to ruin our house from within using our own hands. Unfortunately, there were such players internally, and the deceived public followed their lead.
Even today and even it’s too late after seeing so many disasters and destruction our society is able to thwart the scenarios of those with distinct geopolitical interests – by standing up to it, by demonstrating its unity and strength in the protection of our national interests. We need to realize that every belated move, each next day takes us closer to a new impending danger.
Months after the power grab, during the snap parliamentary elections, we were ringing this alarm bell. Almost alone in the beginning and later with a number of other forces we were yelling, crying, proving and begging our people – to sober up and prevent the disaster before it’s too late. You should remember that our slogan at the December 2018 snap parliamentary elections was “If you are concerned about Armenia’s security, about the future of Artsakh – vote for Republican!”. Sadly, the biblical truth was proven right again: “no prophet is welcome in his hometown”. The results of latest elections again testified to the fact that our society had not fully realized the extent of everything that happened in this period.
I have no purpose of relaying the problems, wrongdoings and mistakes on others. I understand and in numerous occasions – unlike many others – I have acknowledged that during my tenure there were many mistakes and omissions. I know many issues were being resolved quite slowly. I am aware that our fellow compatriots had higher expectations. That there was injustice and perceptions of sizeable corruption. That I had not shown enough harshness against those who found refuge in our ranks and were using our name to increase their power or pile up personal wealth. That I have not always been open enough and clear enough talking to our people. That I have underestimated the role of new technological networks of mass influence. That I have not paid enough attention to a number of domestic problems, preferring instead to focus generally on defense and national security. That I have in some cases – in fact many cases - trusted people who did not deserve that. And as a consequence – have overestimated the degree of manageability of the governance system.
Some people can continue this series of issues and attribute to me or all of us a variety of real or imaginary mistakes. Perhaps, it’s easier to live when you can blame your own mistakes and existing issues on everyone else, but not yourself. When everything, in your opinion, “is because of Serzh”, you can continue doping your own conscience and escape from your own share of responsibility for the future, right?
I have acknowledged my own mistakes, and am ready to do that again. And here I want to refer to certain circles: do not try to attribute your mistake to me, please. I did not force you to become part of this adventurism and then go and kiss the forehead of the loudest animal in the herd – the donkey. And thereafter develop myths that I have cut a deal and handed over power to that man, or that I cooperate with him and other such nonsensical narratives.
Further on, I ask and encourage you all to stop berating the participants of this so-called revolution. There were many people with good intentions among them, who believed that we would have a better homeland that way. In this difficult period for our homeland we absolutely must do everything necessary to restore national unity.