INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
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09 April, 2008
Distinguished President Kocharyan,
Your Holiness,
Fellow Citizens of the Republic of Armenia,
Dear Friends,
Today is an extremely responsible day for me. A few minutes ago, I
swore an oath to our people to unconditionally follow the provisions
of our Constitution. On this historic day, we all swear an oath:
I do it aloud, and ask you to do it silently. I am confident that
each of you has an oath of your own to serve our fatherland and people.
We all swear this oath for a brighter future of our country, for
development, for democracy, for the rule of law, for a stronger and
more prosperous Armenia.
May the Lord give me strength to not disappoint anyone of my
supporters! May the Lord give us all strength to overcome difficulties,
to find the cure for all the problems that worry the disappointed or
disillusioned ones, the ones who today need hope, faith, and optimism.
Dear compatriots, dear guests;
I recognize the enormous responsibility I have assumed. I know that I
will be the one whom you will consider responsible for everything. I
pledge not to avoid the responsibility, the magnitude of which I
realized when joining the Republican Party and declaring that I would
agree to be nominated for the presidential elections only in case the
Republican Party won the largest number of votes in the parliamentary
elections. I realize the magnitude of the responsibility now, and I
shall recognize it every day for the next five years. I shall bear
with honor the responsibility of being the President of all citizens
of the Republic of Armenia.
On this day, I wish to thank my supporters, all the individuals
that have voted for my program. I am grateful for the confidence. I
assure you that together we can improve life in our country. Today,
I call for a change. Once again, we are proclaiming a new beginning
for change. Everyone must be ready to start change from one’s own self.
A part of our people supported other candidates, and I now appeal
to them: it was your right to vote for someone other than me, but I
do not have the right not to be your president. We should not part,
should not create division between various parts of our people, should
not disregard each other’s concerns and pain, and should not go beyond
each other’s reach. Even if a wall of misunderstanding stands between
us, I urge you to join us in eliminating that wall.
I express my gratitude to President Robert Kocharyan, a man who will
have a solid place in the Armenian history, as the decade of his
presidency were years of significant achievements for our country,
achievements based on which we have set ambitious targets for the
future. President Kocharyan has performed an invaluable role in
the establishment, advancement, and protection of the Republic of
Mountainous Karabagh. I am confident that generations will duly
appreciate his service and contribution to the development and
strengthening of our statehood.
Dear Friends:
Although the election campaign was intense and did not do without
insults, I wish to thank my opponents for the struggle, with a special
thank you to those who admitted their defeat with dignity, those who
reciprocated the extended hand of cooperation and accepted the offer
to come together to develop the Republic of Armenia.
I shall remain committed to all of my pre-election promises, and we
shall join our efforts in fulfilling them.
We shall build the Armenia that brings together all Armenians, one
that will be the fatherland of any Armenian.
We shall build the Armenia where mutual respect, love, and tolerance
will prevail.
We shall build the Armenia where our citizens and families will live
and realize their potential in security and dignity.
We shall carry out a proactive foreign policy, and do everything to
find a just, peaceful, and favorable solution to the Artsakh issue.
We shall build a strong, proud, and democratic state of Armenia,
where everyone shall be equal before the law.
I am confident that you, our fellow Armenians and friends, also hold
the key to the success of all of our initiatives. To accomplish this
historic mission, I once again urge us to unite. Unity will be the
platform for fundamental value creation and progress along the path
of democracy and freedoms.
I shall do all of this, because I wish to be a president who will fully
implement his program, bring peace and stable development to Armenia,
enhance the reputation and image of our country, overcome all of the
major problems we currently face, and be capable of foreseeing and
responding to all of the potential challenges. This is the type of
President I can and shall be.
I am ready to contribute all my strength for an atmosphere of
confidence to prevail in our society, for us to overcome any
polarization, rough confrontation, and discredit. Alone, no one
can turn Armenia into a country of dreams. All structures, various
political and non-governmental forces, and civil society need to
unite. This is where the President should act as the key actor in
uniting the nation, a man who must use all the tools and mechanisms
of power available to him in order to promote the best ideas and to
preserve, develop, and put to the best use our country’s most precious
capital, our human resources.
I shall seek ways of cooperating with all the political forces. My
efforts will focus on achieving the nation-wide objectives,
strengthening the link between generations, combining the interests
of different social groups, ensuring respect for ethnic minorities,
and preserving the Armenian identity.
I shall encourage a change of attitude towards the intelligentsia
in our country. It is long time for the state to treat seriously our
culture, scientific and educational potential, and every individual
engaged in intellectual and creative work.
I shall make my humble contribution to the strengthening of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, which will continue to remain a pillar of
the Armenian soul and national identity.
Dear Friends:
This ceremony takes place about a month after painful events, which
inflicted wounds that are still fresh.
These wounds caused pain and bitterness to all of us.
Today, I urge to look forward, together to seek and find the path of
reconciliation, that of development for the Armenia of future. I am
confident that we cannot have real and tangible success, unless we
learn lessons from the past. What happened should teach all of us a
lesson of vigilance and sobriety, compelling us to work with greater
vigor and devotion.
Unchecked freedom can result in conflict with the public interests
and the rights of others. To prevent such conflicts and to reconcile
various rights and interests, the state may interfere with the exercise
of certain fundamental rights.
Limitations of fundamental rights, however, cannot be absolute, as they
would simply render the fundamental right meaningless. Limitations
should not undermine the essence of fundamental rights enshrined in
the Constitution.
For any limitation of rights and freedoms, including the right to
peaceful assembly, we must strike a fair balance between the public
order and respect for the rights and freedoms of others, on the one
hand, and the right to peaceful assembly, on the other.
Over a short period of time, along with dozens of other laws, we should
revisit the legislation regulating the right to peaceful assembly
with a view to safeguarding everyone’s right to peaceful assembly in
accordance with European standards and precluding any public event
that is either not peaceful or does not pursue a legitimate aim.
Dear friends:
Our people have given me their vote of confidence, and I must implement
my program during the next five years. Our people have confided in me
to overcome the challenges faced by our country and to meet everyone’s
expectations. Five years is a rather short period to do all of this,
hence it will be a period of everyday hard work. During this time,
we shall manage to do what is possible and beyond, to address the
development challenges faced by our country. That is why I consider
this ceremonial day a working day for me and my political team.
So thank you, and let us get down to work!
Let us get down to work, and forward, Armenia!