Serzh Sargsyan: Armenia has the lowest demographic indicators over  the past 70 years in 2020

ArmInfo.The regular, already 17th congress of the Republican Party of Armenia is being held in extraordinary conditions, when the state and people face  serious challenges. Leader of the RPA, third president of Armenia  Serzh Sargsyan stated this during his welcoming speech at the opening  of the party congress.

According to him, this situation cannot but cause concern for the  Republicans, who stood at the origins of the formation of an  independent state, and played a key role in state-building. The RPA  leader stated that this congress is a good opportunity to analyze the  events that have taken place over the past year, to speak out about  the challenges facing the country and ways to overcome them, as well  as to determine the further vector of the party's development.

"We should not discuss only internal party issues and decide on a  political course at this accountable congress. We cannot pretend and  distort ourselves. Pretense has never been a feature inherent in us.   Therefore, we are obliged to state the bitter reality that has  developed in the country without softening words. And the fact is  that every 5 RA citizen leaves his or her homeland irrevocably - this  is a record figure. Imagine the scale of the catastrophe, "Sargsyan  said.

In his words, the bitter reality as of today is that every third  person in Armenia is poor, and this indicator has sharply  deteriorated over the past two years. The third President of the  Republic of Armenia drew attention to the fact that according to the  upper poverty line of the World Bank, 47.7% of the population live in  poverty in Armenia, while three years ago people had an average  satisfaction with basic needs.

"The reality is that as a result of the 44-day war, 35 thousand  people of Artsakh or more than 8 thousand families were became  homeless. Their settlements came under Azerbaijani control. This is  not just statistics, behind this there are people, fates, childhood  memories, family cemeteries that have come under enemy control,  property formed over the years as well as an identity that is  endangered. As a result of this war, 5,000 families lost their hope,  and often the family's only breadwinner, their meaning of life. 5,000  young guys never danced at their own wedding, did not start a family  or have children. 

This demographic catastrophe was added to the coronavirus pandemic,  which claimed thousands of innocent lives, "Sargsyan noted, adding  that in 2020 Armenia had the lowest demographic indicators over the  past 70 years.  According to him, the birth and death rates in the  country have practically become equal, which is also a great  disaster.  

The RPA leader noted that the anti-national and unpatriotic  government like Pilate washed its hands, fencing itself off by our  compatriots, leaving soldiers on the battlefield, presenting their  own powerlessness as desertion of soldiers to their families, and the  helplessness of the healthcare system as an international norm. He  pointed to an increase in mortality in the country by 6.3% compared  to the same period last year.  "The reality is that the Armenian  society today is more polarized and demoralized than ever. 

According to polls, today 70% of society does not want to hear about  politics. People refuse to accept existing realities and are  indifferent to everything that happens in the country," Sargsyan  said.  At the same time, he stressed that the country's state  security, diplomatic, defense, digital security, which were built  with serious sacrifices for many years, are now destroyed. "Our  country is represented at the negotiating table as an economic and  legal entity," he said, adding that thanks to technology, of course,  people can be misled, but this cannot last forever.  

Sargsyan also believes that the tragedy in the country has reached  the point that, against the background of this nationwide  catastrophe, they are trying to remove such an important principle  for a person as dignity from the national agenda. 

"Dignity is not just a word, it is an inalienable human right. They  are trying to take away this right from our compatriots in conditions  of surrender, national humiliation and lack of security guarantees,"  he said, adding that opponents of the government are being massively  wiretapped, depriving them of their right to privacy.