Saturday, January 16 2021 16:18

ArmInfo. Now is not the time to increase public debt, as we are in a rather difficult economic situation. Vazgen Manukyan, a candidate for prime minister from the  opposition, stated this at a meeting with residents of Gyumri and  Vanadzor.

The opposition candidate said that Armenia suffered significant  material losses and, most importantly, now, to lead the country out  of the terrible situation in which it found itself.

"It is necessary to resolve the housing issue of refugees, the  relatives of the killed servicemen should receive benefits,  servicemen who became disabled during the hostilities need state  assistance.

Now is not the time to increase public debt, as we are in a rather  difficult economic situation. But we shouldn't count on the help of  foreign investors. Diaspora Armenians can help Armenia. But no one  will help Armenia under the current government, since even the money  from the "Hayastan" fund, collected by Armenians from all over the  world, was transferred to the state budget. Under Pashinyan, Armenia  will not receive investment, this is a fact, "Manukyan noted.

The opposition candidate noted that we have lost in all areas.  Indeed, the trilateral statement of November 9 could be more  favorable for the Armenian side if the authorities tried to improve  some of its provisions through negotiations. And although the war is  over, this document became fatal for Armenia.

"The current prime minister of Armenia betrayed our national  interests. It was Pashinyan's short- sightedness and lack of state  thinking that led to the current terrible situation. What do we have  today?  More than 4500 people were killed in the war, thousands of  young men were missing, hundreds were taken prisoner, we have  thousands of disabled people. Moreover, a significant part of the  territories of Artsakh was lost, now the territories of Syunik and  Tavush are under threat. Our army has been destroyed. We lost 100,000  hectares of arable land, 315,000 hectares of hayfields, 15 large  mines, and weapons worth a billion dollars. Clause 1 of the  tripartite statement of November 9 says that after the surrender of  Karvachar and Berdzor, the armies remain in their places. But  Azerbaijan carries out provocations and moves forward. We have  problems at the borders in Syunik. Is it normal? We have problems in  Gegharkunik, the mine in Sotk is no longer under our control.  Moreover, there were difficulties of a foreign policy nature. There  have always been problems in Armenia, but we were a worthy country  with which to reckon, now the situation is different. They simply  stopped reckoning with Armenia, "stressed Manukyan. The opposition  candidate for prime minister noted that now it is necessary to create  a government that will serve the interests of Armenia. Manukyan also  assured that if Pashinyan resigns, the war will not resume. But the  new government will not allow trampling on the interests of Armenia.

"The issue of Artsakh is also on our agenda. If the power in the  country changes, we must resume negotiations in the format of the  OSCE Minsk Group. It is necessary to renew the territorial integrity  of Artsakh, there is no other way. We have made many foreign policy  blunders. Pashinyan has spoiled relations with our strategic ally  Russia. Relations with China and Iran deteriorated. The situation  needs to be corrected. You should also do the work of the security  system. It is imperative to restore the normal operation of the SNB.  We need to develop the army, this is vital for us. Even such a  prosperous country as Switzerland has a strong army. And our army  must be very strong, given our geography, "Manukyan emphasized.