Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian acknowledged “possible mistakes” made by his government after marching through Yerevan with supporters for nearly ten hours on Saturday.
“Today we have held the longest march in the history of the Third [Armenian] Republic. Our march lasted for 9 hours and 25 minutes. We walked 37.5 kilometers,” he said at the end of the marathon rally held two days before the official start of campaigning for the December 9 parliamentary elections.
“First of all … we have once again demonstrated that our will is stronger than a rock and our spirit never surrenders and nobody and nothing can stop us on the path of building a free and happy Armenia because we enjoy the trust of our people,” he said outside the prime minister’s office in Yerevan.
“In a sense, it was a walk of atonement,” Pashinian went on. “We have been leading Armenia for six months in a governmental capacity. And this was a march of atonement for possible mistakes made by us. This was a march of atonement for those citizens who have become embittered at some point and experienced disappointment during this time.”
The premier did not specify those mistakes.
Walking through various parts of Yerevan, Pashinian wore blue jeans and a black cap and chanted his trademark slogans through a megaphone in scenes that were meant to be reminiscent of this spring’s “velvet revolution.”
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his supporters march through Yerevan, November 24, 2018.
Pashinian began the long march from the city’s northern Nor Nork district where he was joined by hundreds of supporters in the morning. He again declared there he has delivered on all the promises which he made to Armenians when leading the mass protests that brought him to power in May.
He argued that he launched a crackdown on corruption and broke up economic monopolies after taking over the government, and prevented fraud in local elections subsequently held in various parts of the country. He said his government has also ensured that everyone is equal before the law.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) during the rally, Pashinian reiterated his pledges to carry out an “economic revolution” that will improve the lives of many Armenians. He said his government has already created a level playing field for all businesses and is planning major tax cuts that that will boost the real incomes of 350,000 Armenians in the coming months.
Pashinian also stated that the government is now helping unnamed private investors to launch $500 million worth of investment projects that could lead to the opening of several manufacturing plants already next year. He refused to give details of those projects.
Pashinian’s political opponents, notably former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK), accuse him of lacking clear economic plans. They say that economic growth in Armenia has slowed down since the revolution.
Some critics also pounced on attendance at Saturday’s demonstration, which was visibly lower than during similar marches staged by Pashinian in April and May.
The premier hit back at them later in the evening.
“To those who talk about the allegedly small number of participants of today’s march, I say: walk 37 kilometers and see how many people from your family will join you and whether you will reach your destination at all,” he wrote on Facebook. He insisted that tens of thousands of people took part in the march in one way or another.
Pashinian’s My Step alliance is widely expected to win the upcoming elections.