GOVERNMENT TO BE FORMED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Vasak Tarposhyan
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 11, 2008
After being appointed as a Prime Minister, yesterday Tigran Sargsyan
said good-bye to the staff of the Central Bank and then answered the
questions of the journalists.
"In what state are you leaving the Central Bank, how are you going
to implement the ambitious government programs?"
"This appointment was very swift and unexpected and I need time to sum
up my reflections regarding the last 10 years. In the person of the
Central Bank’s staff, in my view we have a team of devoted people,
able to solve serious issues. Anyhow I really want to believe and I
do believe there are young professional cadres who will be helpful
not only to the Central Bank but also the people.
As regards the ambitious programs, I have already underscored during
the government session today that, the National Assembly has already
confirmed the ambitious program of Serge Sargsyan’s Administration
and if the parliament has approved it then we must only put it into
action. Moreover, in his pre-election program Serge Sargsyan has
extended these issues, and submitted it for the term of five years,
and, by the way, our people approved this program.
This means the new government must be guided by the program accepted
by the people and we must be able to implement it completely.
"Does this mean you are not planning to propose a new program?"
"If you familiarize yourselves with Serge Sargsyan’s pre-election
program, you will see extremely ambitious goals. We must be able
to become financial and health center, we must be the leader in our
region in the sphere of tourism, we must create favorable business
environment to be able to compete with best states of the world. We
must rely on our scientific potential and make qualitative amendments
in education system."
"Which spheres do you consider important for reforms?"
"It is not a secret for anyone that the perfection of tax-custom
administration where all the secrets of our economic system are hidden
is the most important issue – competitive arena, equal conditions,
speculations, corruption shadow economy. Tax-custom administration
is the key. This is the very sphere requiring great efforts.
We all understand that it is not possible to make qualitative changes
in one second, but in one second it is possible to feel that these
changes will be really serious. In this sphere we have set far-flung
goals."
"Who will be the President of the Central Bank?"
"The appointment of the President of the Central Bank is the exclusive
competence of the country’s President. I appeal to all of you to be
reserved in this issue. The circulation of the name of any candidate
will tie first of all the person who is going to be the future
President of the Central Bank and secondly it will create an incorrect
environment for the President of the Republic. Moreover if the newly
appointed Prime Minister proposes a candidacy, it will be beyond the
rules of ethics. That is why I will never touch upon this topic."
"What changes should we expect in the government staff?"
"Today we have already started discussing this issue with the
President.
The discussion will continue tomorrow evening. We do have time
to discuss the structure of the government and the candidacies of
the new Ministers. As you know all this is based on the coalition
agreement, which means formation of a government acceptable for all
the four parties.
That is why, be patient, and wait for some more days, until the end
of the discussions and the negotiations. In any case I know that the
President is interested in the swift formation of the new government,
to start the implementation of the programs as soon as possible."