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On September 21 at the Conference of Presidents of European Parliaments in Strasbourg the RA NA President Hovik Abrahamyan delivered a speech on “Is representative democracy in crisis?

Challenges for National Parliaments.” Let us note that parliamentary delegations headed by the Presidents of the Parliaments of CoE 47 member states were participating in the Conference.

Addressing the participants of the Conference, the RA NA President stated:

“Distinguished Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to start my speech by congratulating the President for the inclusion of this topical issue of great concern for our societies in the agenda.

The present conference is an important platform to tackle the issues of such significance.

It is very symbolic for me personally to deliver a speech today from the high podium of PACE – the temple of democracy: 21 years ago, this very day, the Armenian people via referendum declared its independence.

Since independence the European system of values has become the guideline of our state-building while expressing the will of our nation.

Dear colleagues,

Today’s topical discussion is on our political agenda for a long time by now. However, the recent economic crisis and the austerity measures imposed by this crisis is a challenge to our common European democratic system of values by compelling us to constantly address this phenomenon. The Forum for the Future of Democracy held in Yerevan in 2010 reflected upon the basic roots of the crisis and elaborated on possible ways to overcome it.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The parliaments, being one of the most important elements of representative democracy, play a key role in this context.

However, the internet, information technologies and social networks create great opportunities for the citizens to become an active participant of democratic life of a contemporary society. People have a possibility to freely debate and socialize regardless of distances and boundaries. But in such an environment a threat exists that the policy implemented by the authorities may not be in a position to fully reflect the dynamic public will. Inter alia, such a threat also exists in case when the legitimacy of authorities does not imply any doubt.

The imperative to harmonize the reality with the existing governance systems requires new relationship between the stakeholders of public processes. Notwithstanding how contradictory it may sound, the crisis of participatory democracy might be overcome through the widening of democratic instruments.

Representation can no longer be the only expression of democracy. We need to find more sustained forms of interaction between people and the authorities and these forms should include direct democratic participation in the decision-making process on different levels.

Dear colleagues,

Democracy is not sustainable without a democratic culture. It requires a continuous education of the society for which the political elite carries the main responsibility. Consistent efforts in this direction are the only way to prevent the abuse of European system of values, when the rights and fundamental freedoms guaranteed by this system become a means of dissemination of extremist ideology. This is the threat to which we should respond together.

Within this context I state with concern there still exist advocates of intolerance and racism on the territory of the Council of Europe. Quite recently, an unprecedented incident took place when murderer Safarov, who had committed a cruel murder on ethnic ground and had been sentenced to life imprisonment, was transferred to Azerbaijan and thereafter released and glorified by the Azerbaijani regime. Even after the progressive world condemned that incident, a new wave of justification of crimes rose in Azerbaijan. It’s enough to open the internet website of the President of Azerbaijan you may see statements of different high ranking officials of the country in support of such crimes. Manifestations of racism and xenophobia might be contagious. This is not only the problem of the people of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Unfortunately racism today has deep roots and if not battled properly may become a serious threat to the whole of Europe.
Europe should have capacity to properly and unambiguously react to the challenge we face today.

Thank you for your attention."