President.am, Armenia
July 10 2009

President Serzh Sargsyan met with the members of the Public Council

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan met with the members of the Public
Council.

In his opening remarks the President of Armenia particularly said,
`This is our first meeting since after the Council has been
fully formed. I cordially congratulate all 36 members and wish you
productive work.

This is an exceptional institute, whose configuration and charter have
been designed and formed out of state structures. The election of its
members has also taken place in an unprecedented manner. And the
outcome of this enterprise depends primarily on all 36 members of the
Council. I have no intention of downgrading the role of the
Presidential Staff and our state structures: What I mean is that the
extent of our assistance will depend on your activities. We are ready
to discuss any initiative, to listen to your opinion, and it will be,
of course, a part of our work.

I am familiar with the Charter of the Public Council, I also know that
your decisions are not mandatory for the state governing bodies, and
will bear no direct influence on the policies. But we all also
understand that this structure has been created to influence the
policies. At first, it may sound as a contradiction, but it is clear
for me that there is no contradiction at all. If the state governing
bodies act based first of all on the power of law, your activities
will be based on respect, authority and public trust. I am happy that
the Public Council comprises individuals who posses all of these
qualities. And I hope that this structure will acquire your personal
qualities.

I would not wish for the Council to become a closed club, but rather a
great venue for exchanging opinions, listening to new ideas, and
adopting decisions. This is my vision of the Council’s work, and I
would like to repeat that this is an important structure, and I didn’t
pursue any other option.

I want your participation in the decision making to be
significant. The President and the state are interested in your
participation in important decision-making; by participating in
decision-making you also participate in the implementation of those
decisions and advocate them. In state structures we can obligate the
state employees to comply through orders, laws, government decisions,
but in this structure the role of the people who entered it and make
decisions on voluntary basis is, certainly, different. I sincerely
believe that this structure will deliver.

You see, from the moment the idea emerged, there were people who
labeled the structure without even knowing what its charter would be
like. I am confident that you and the mature part of our society
realize very well why this whole process of discrediting was
started. If we understand that simple thing, it means that we should
be mindful of it in our work and implement ideas not to convince
someone that their approaches were wrong, but to build a better state,
to make our society a better one.’

The Chairman of the Public Council Vazgen Manoukian informed the
President of Armenia on the formation of the Council’s
commissions and other administrative issues. He said that through the
commission formation process, a great number of people volunteered for
help and as a result the commissions have engaged high-class
professionals from different areas.

The Chairman of the Council expressed confidence that the structure
would be able to discuss many issues of public concern and find
avenues for their solution. He also informed that the Council has been
already receiving many letters which are being sorted by the topics
and analyzed to identify issues of common concern.

Vazgen Manoukian noted that all democratic states have similar public
structures which bring significant participation to the resolution of
social issues and play a reconciling role when interests of different
social groups collide.

During the working discussion, the members of the Council raised a
dozen questions pertaining to science and education, culture,
environment protection, economy, Armenia’s presence in international
information flows, and creation of the system of values for the
younger generation. President Serzh Sargsyan suggested that in its
future works the Council undertakes the development of concrete
proposals for the resolution of these issues.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress