Before the Revolution, the State was the Master of the Citizen, After the Revolution, the Citizen is the Master of the State: Pashinyan

Dear people, dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia,

Today we celebrate Citizen's Day and I congratulate all of you on this holiday. This was written by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

"What is this holiday about and what is there to celebrate?"

Citizen's Day is about the fact that the people, that is, the collective of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, are the ones who hold power in our country.

This has been an indisputable reality in the Republic of Armenia for 7 years now, because elected authorities at all levels have been formed as a result of the people's choice. Since the People's, non-violent, velvet revolution of 2018, not only has no election at any level been rigged in Armenia, but the fact that such a phenomenon ever existed in Armenia has even been forgotten.

This is a great occasion to congratulate. Our Government is the guarantor of the people's free expression, but the people must also protect their right to free expression through their own free expression, and this is extremely important.

This holiday is about the freedom of the citizen, and the citizen of the Republic of Armenia is free. Freedom of assembly, speech, and the press have been guaranteed since the People's, non-violent, velvet revolution of 2018, to the extent that many citizens consider it a threat to their freedom. But here too, the government and the ruling majority have little to do, and self-regulation mechanisms are what must ensure the further development of the culture of freedom. The government has guaranteed and will continue to guarantee the freedom of the citizen.

Citizen's Day is about prosperity, and since the People's, non-violent, Velvet Revolution of 2018, Armenia's economy has grown by 43.5 percent, and the state budget has had an additional $4.2 billion in revenue, circumstances that are a primary factor in the indicator of prosperity in the country, prosperity that is based on legal and creative work.

Citizen's Day is about intolerance towards corruption, and since the People's, non-violent, Velvet Revolution of 2018, anti-corruption institutions have been established in Armenia: the Corruption Prevention Commission, the Anti-Corruption Committee and the Court of Three Instances, the Institute for the Confiscation of Illegal Property and the Protection of Community Interests.

The primary initiator of anti-corruption cases and the leader of the anti-corruption struggle is the Government and the ruling majority. Systemic corruption has been eradicated from Armenia, while a daily struggle is being waged against network corruption, and this struggle requires more and more public support.

Citizen's Day, most importantly, is about the state and statehood, because there is no Citizen without the State, because the State is the identity of the Citizen.

Dear people, dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia,

Immediately after the People's, non-violent, velvet revolution of 2018, a drop by drop of tension has accumulated around this nuance, because the key meaning of the Revolution must be fulfilled. The key change in citizen-state relations, the Revolution, before and after, is as follows: Before the Revolution, the state was the owner of the citizen, after the Revolution, the citizen is the owner of the state. It is this key change that must become not only consciousness, socio-psychology, tradition, but also everyday practice in us.

This change is happening, but not without resistance. And this is a path that, by following, will enable us to ensure our highest goal: the survival of our independent state, the Republic of Armenia.

That path passes through complex knots of foreign and domestic politics, sometimes through collapses and tragedies. But we pass that path without losing sight of the core identity of the citizen, the interest of the state, for a single moment. Our policies have been and continue to be built around that interest.

This is a difficult but inevitable path - the path of independence, sovereignty, state consciousness, and peace, and we will walk that path without expecting applause.

Glory to the martyrs and long live the Republic of Armenia.

"Long live the Citizen of the Republic of Armenia," he wrote.