Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the event dedicated to the 28th anniversary of the local self-government system in Armenia.

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan, Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan, representatives of the legislative and executive authorities and local Self-Government bodies, Maxim Longange, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Armenia, and EU Ambassador Vassilis Maragos attended the event.

The Prime Minister delivered a welcome speech, congratulated everyone on the Day of Local Self-Government occasion, and expressed his satisfaction with the determination shown and is being shown to implement reforms in the field of local self-government."It has already been said that many large-scale enlargement reforms have taken place in the Republic of Armenia, but I want to emphasize that only some of our questions have been answered here, too. In particular, the question of continuing the enlargement of the communities, of increasing it with a specific formula, is still a matter of discussion, which, of course, will have to go through particular talks.

But I also want to share with you that as a result of several working discussions and visits recently, I have some tension regarding the situation of communities with ethnic minority populations because, due to non-enlargement and the lack of scale of subsidy programs, we get a gap between unenlarged and enlarged between communities. Although we have made some changes in the subsidy system to increase the subsidy opportunities of the ethnic minority communities, we also provide support with specific other subsidy formulas. Still, I fear that we will not only be able to fill this gap with these measures, but the gap will be vast. Is proliferating. Those who have been in the communities, this is an obvious circumstance that can be seen at first glance," said Nikol Pashinyan and added that this is an issue that must be discussed with representatives of national minorities because the problem is not only political criticism but also the reality that exists in those communities today.

The head of state also emphasized the continuity of the agenda of reforms in local self-government bodies in a socio-psychological sense."The citizen must recognize the mechanisms through which the changes he expects take place or do not take place," said the Prime Minister and emphasized the importance of making the concept of "community" more transparent and more understandable for the residents of the community, because according to the prime minister, in the end, both the concepts of "community" and "state" are tools to improve life as a result of collective effort."In this context, there is a lot of talk about decentralization; by and large, it is about the decentralization of authority and power. In a political sense, we should record that we made that decision, which is one of the most critical and de facto decisions. That decision is as follows: the first, de jure decision, that the proportional electoral system holds local self-government elections, and secondly, de facto elections are not rigged, and citizens not only de jure but also de facto elect their community, their council of elders," Nikol Pashinyan noted.

The Prime Minister emphasized that it is essential that along with powers, decentralization of duties and responsibilities takes place, which applies not only to the council of elders and the community but also to residents and citizens." There is a massive gap between the citizens, the state, and the community. This gap is visible in the situations of many citizens of Armenia outside the threshold and inside the threshold because it is a very discussed question, especially in the case of apartment buildings, that the attitude of the person inside the threshold to the environment is different, utterly different beyond the threshold. This is where this gap occurs because starting from the porch, the yard, the citizen, the person no longer has the attitude that he has inside the door because our social psychology is formulated under the saying and saying "my house is my castle." - said Nikol Pashinyan. According to the Prime Minister, in terms of governance in a democratic society, the formula "my house is my fortress" should at least be abandoned a little or reformulated a little."We must change our social psychology to a certain extent, noting that our state is our fortress. Our house is our residence, within the threshold of which we have inviolable rights. Still, beyond the threshold, we also have a particular responsibility," he said—Nikol Pashinyan, adding that any state also has a more comprehensive structure of community organization.

In that context, the Prime Minister emphasized the public's attitude towards the community and the state and stressed the importance of changing some traditions at the socio-psychological level."We have to give up many traditions. They are the traditions formed in the absence of statehood and community because they say we should not be an independent state, we should not have a communal Government, we should have a Bdeshkh government, and we should have an occupation government. Therefore, many traditions follow this logic," the head of state noted.

The Prime Minister emphasized that traditions should be distinguished and a clear emphasis should be placed on those traditions, which are state and community and contribute to establishing local self-government and state institutions as a tool for universal well-being.

Summarizing the speech, Nikol Pashinyan congratulated on the Local Self-Government Day and noted that the local Government is one of the areas where successes have been recorded."Here, I have to say particular words of appreciation to the members of the Government, governors, and heads of communities because, without their cooperation, it would not have been possible to do this. Again, I want to share my conviction that these successes are unequivocally and inextricably linked to democracy; these successes are related to the introduction of that tradition of forming local self-government bodies through elections."

The film "The Path to Establishment of the Local Government System in Armenia" was also shown in the event's framework.