Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Anti-Corruption Committee, where he participated in the ceremonial session dedicated to the third anniversary of the establishment of the structure and the employee day of Anti-Corruption Committee.
First, the chairman of the Anti-corruption Committee, Sasun Khachatryan, reported on the activities of the committee carried out in 2024.
Then, Prime Minister Pashinyan made a speech, in which he congratulated the Anti-corruption Committee on its third anniversary and on the employee day of the Committee, thanked for the work done during this period. "Of course, it is understandable that creating a new system is a very difficult and challenging work. During this period, in the last three years, very great and serious efforts have been made in establishing the Anti-Corruption Committee. But I must also note that there is no point that signals the completion of any system," said the Prime Minister and added that if there is such a point, it is called stagnation.
According to Nikol Pashinyan, one should not wait for the establishment and transition periods to pass in order to consider the mission accomplished, because there is no accomplishment point, and one should constantly strive for improvement and development. "In that regard, thanking you for your work, I want to emphasize that, fortunately or unfortunately, what I have to say about the Anti-Corruption Committee generally fits into the framework of what I have to say about the law enforcement system in general. To say that, in general, there is discontent with the activities of our law enforcement system will not be true. However, it should be noted that there is a feeling of dissatisfaction both among the public and in the law enforcement system." noted the Prime Minister and talked about these realities.
The Prime Minister emphasized that everything expected from the Government and personally him has been done for the maximum efficient work of the judicial system. "Serious institutional reforms have taken place, legislative reforms have taken place, essential reforms of the social guarantees system have been carried out in the investigation system, the prosecution system, the judicial system, certain legislative and technical capabilities have also been introduced. And perhaps at this stage, at least for me, I record that there is no such thing that the judicial system has expected from the Government, and the Government has said that it will not satisfy that expectation, with the understanding that according to the logic of development, there should always be expectations from the Government, because time flows, new requirements emerge or new needs arise. But on the other hand, our perception is that after doing all these actions in the law enforcement system, after making all these investments, we should also see certain preliminary results, especially in an environment where we can record that in the Republic of Armenia there is no lack of political will for establishing justice and fairness, for preventing and rooting out corruption. On the contrary, there is a clear, unequivocal political will that this should happen in the Republic of Armenia. But that doesn't happen, obviously. But I am not of the opinion that even this should be the point where we should say it's over, the problem is solved," Nikol Pashinyan emphasized.
According to the Prime Minister, in his opinion, the public perception is such that there is a large amount of corruption in Armenia today, there is a large amount of cases of injustice, which, according to him, is becoming a political problem. In this context, talking about the independence of the judicial system, Nikol Pashinyan emphasized, "No one doubts here. Moreover, I want to emphasize that the Government has provided all the conditions for an independent judicial system in Armenia. Today, there cannot be a single case where someone says that because of the political reluctance of the Government or because of political opposition, something is not going forward, because the Government does not allow it, because the Government creates obstacles. Such a thing is totally ruled out. And I guarantee that there has been no single case like that since the day I was elected as Prime Minister and will never be".
The Prime Minister added that with all this said, there is a sense of stagnation in the areas of justice and the fight against corruption. According to Nikol Pashinyan, this is the point that is not related to the independence of the judicial system but is related to the political power, because essentially, the number one person responsible for justice and legality in the country is the Government. "And this is the reason why I have to speak and express myself more publicly and in more detail about these topics. And we have to find solutions, find where the problem is," the Prime Minister said.
Summarizing his speech, Nikol Pashinyan thanked once again for the work done and wished success.
Smbat Mkhitaryan, deputy head of the Fourth Investigative Department of the Anti-Corruption Committee, and Vahe Martirosyan, the senior investigator for especially important cases of the Second Investigative Department of the Anti-Corruption Committee, were awarded with the Prime Minister's Commemorative Medal for their contribution to the strengthening of law and order.
