ArmInfo.Citizen's Day will be the second most memorable date after the Independence Day of the Republic in the history of independent Armenia. Minister of Education and Science of Armenia, Arayik Harutyunyan, said this on March 21 after a government meeting, told reporters. The Cabinet of Ministers approved amendments to the law "On holidays and anniversaries", which propose to introduce a new holiday - Citizens Day, which will be celebrated on the last Saturday of April.
At the same time, if May 1 falls on Saturday, then Citizen's Day will be celebrated on the previous Sunday of April in order to exclude the possibility of celebrating Citizen's Day on the day of memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire - April 24.
"The need for amendments is due to the unprecedented political events that took place in Armenia in April 2018 and the velvet revolution that followed," Justice Minister Artak Zeynalyan said introducing the draft law.
As noted in the government's decision, one of the results of the national movement was the resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and the victory of the national movement. According to the minister, since the mass protests of citizens, accompanied by non-violent peaceful actions, took place in April-May 2018, it was decided to introduce a new holiday in this interval. It also takes into account the fact that the holiday falls on a day off, and there would be no need to establish a new non-working day.
To recall, on April 23, 2018, on the wave of civil disobedience actions held in Armenia, the former president, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan announced his resignation. On the same day, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian accepted the resignation of the government. At a special meeting on May 8, the parliament elected the leader of the Armenian opposition Nikol Pashinyan to the post of Prime Minister at the second attempt. On this day, national holiday celebrations were held in the country.