NEW ARMENIAN PREMIER SAYS GOVERNMENT’S WORK TO BECOME MORE TRANSPARENT

Public TV
April 17 2008
Armenia

The newly-appointed Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan chaired a
government session today where he presented his approaches to making
the work of the government more transparent and accessible by the
population, Armenian Public TV reported in its news bulletin on
17 April.

Sargsyan said the new approaches will allow ordinary citizens to
involve in discussions on the most important issues, the TV reported.

"There is such a principle in governance which is called involvement
of society. The purpose of this principle is that firstly, we ensure
the quality of projects and secondly, we ensure the legitimacy of the
government’s activities. That is to say decisions made by us should
become a subject of public discussion. This principle supposes,
firstly, that members of the public should have an opportunity to
participate, firstly, in development of drafts [government decisions],
secondly, in discussions on the drafts, and thirdly – we should have
reciprocal communication with society regarding the drafts that are
approved," he said at the session.

Sargsyan went on to say that "this will be an obligatory norm
for the government and ministries, which will have to post their
drafts [decisions] on their websites. We will ensure the live online
broadcasting of cabinet meetings in the government’s news conference
hall."

Sargsyan added that journalists will use computers in the news
conference hall to ensure the "transparency" of the government’s
activities, the TV said. The prime minister also commented on the
working skills of government members. "My research showed that
unfortunately, our staff so far do not master contemporary methods
of work. It is not a shame not to know, it is a shame not to learn.

Reforms are impossible without learning," he said.

The prime minister said government members should have two important
documents on their desks – the programme on the Armenian government’s
activities up to 2012 and President Serzh Sargsyan’s election
manifesto.