Election Program of RA President Serzh Sargsyan in presidential elections of 2013

My Fellow Armenians;

We have lived in the free and independent Republic of Armenia for 22 years now. Bearing the lessons of history in mind, we are crafting our present, crafting our path for the future. Our Independence struggle was not an easy one: it made us stronger and more experienced.

The time has already passed for attributing the country’s shortcomings and problems to faulty legacies of the past and the young age of our state. The Armenian State has already embarked upon the stage of maturity; the daunting challenges ahead of us require competent and clear solutions without further delay. In the past five years, we have withstood numerous internal and external challenges, firmly moving forward, believing and continuing to change, sparing no effort for building a better Armenia for each and every one.

Undoubtedly, every Armenian cares profoundly for Armenia. Every citizen loves his country and is most certainly ready to support any good initiative contributing to its betterment. Governments have been regularly criticized, and the criticism will continue. It is only natural. The criticism has obviously been fueled by a desire to see a better and stronger Armenia, the strong love for our Fatherland.

Our dreams of Armenia may somewhat differ: for one, it may be a dream centered around a safe childhood for the children and a dignified retirement for the parents, for another—the security of borders and the safety of the soldiers defending their integrity, and for a third—equity, social justice, a fair economic system, and opportunities for employment and dignified livelihood. One thing is clear, though: all of us dream of living in a much better Armenia. Our aim is to have a secure Fatherland, with secure families as the anchor of its stability, security, and development.

Today’s rapidly-changing world is full of various challenges, from murderous internal conflicts to fratricidal and ethnic clashes and international terrorist threats, to name a few. Our region has not been spared by such threats and challenges. Hence, we may neither linger nor fall behind global efforts aimed at peace and stability.

We need to set a constructive and far-reaching goal empowering us to overcome the current challenges and move forward towards a dignified and prosperous livelihood for every citizen and each family in the Republic of Armenia. Such a goal reaffirms our belief that our country will be a competitive country with an Armenian-centered magnetism. Together, we shall be able to build a Fatherland that is competitive, among other things, in safeguarding adequate living standards for its citizens, a Fatherland that will render meaningless any desire to earn a living on foreign shores, a Fatherland that will make the following worthy appeal to its sons and daughters: “Return to SECURE ARMENIA!” We are united by the idea that Armenia can be a much better, much fairer, much freer, and much more prosperous country. We have no alternative. We ought to continue building this Armenia.

We have made great strides along the path of state building; much has already been accomplished. In the 22 years of Independence, we have achieved great successes safeguarding irreversible progress.

We now have a well-established and battleworthy army defending the security of our Fatherland. We have rather mature institutions of public administration and local government. We have an emerging civil society and free media—much freer than the media in numerous, including developed countries with a longer democratic history. A strong Armenian family, having withstood the challenges of millennia, is an essential value for us. A secure Fatherland and secure families are necessary preconditions for achieving the goal of a SECURE ARMENIA.

I assure you that we shall live in a much better Armenia by 2018. We will firmly walk down this path—the path leading us TOWARDS A SECURE ARMENIA!

 

Election program of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan of 2013

Election program of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan of 2008