The Democratic Party of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Դեմոկրատական Կուսակցություն, ''Hayastani Demokratakan Kusaktsutyun'') is a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

. It was established in 1991 by

Aram Gaspar Sargsyan Aram Gaspari Sargsyan ( hy, Արամ Գասպարի Սարգսյան; born August 14, 1949, Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union) is an Armenian politician, social-democratic activist and former communist. He was the last leader of the Armenian ...

, the last secretary of the Soviet-era Communist Party of Armenia when the party ruled the

Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

(Armenian SSR) from 1920 until 1990.

History

Following the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the Armenian SSR, the ruling Communist Party of Armenia had fallen into great disfavor. Its running secretary, Aram Gaspar Sargsyan, dissolved the party and established the Democratic Party of Armenia, appointing himself as the first secretary of the new party. Meanwhile,

Ruben Tovmasyan Ruben Tovmasyan ( hy, Ռուբեն Թովմասյան; February 15, 1937 – March 30, 2019) was the General Secretary of the Armenian Communist Party. Biography In 1977, Tovmasyan graduated from the Armenian State University of Economics The ...

and some other party members, clearly unfavorable to Sargsyan's move to dissolve the original Communist Party of Armenia, founded a new

Armenian Communist Party The Armenian Communist Party ( hy, Հայաստանի կոմունիստական կուսակցություն, ՀԿԿ; ''Hayastani Komunistakan Kusaktsutyun'', HKK) is a communist party in Armenia. It considers itself the successor to the Armenia ...

shortly thereafter. The party participated in the

1999 Armenian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 30 May 1999. There were 75 constituency seats and 56 elected on a national basis using proportional representation.classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factb ...

, gaining just 0.98% of the popular vote. The party nominated Sargsyan as its candidate in the

2003 Armenian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Armenia on 19 February and 5 March 2003. No candidate received a majority in the first round of the election with the incumbent President Robert Kocharyan winning slightly under 50% of the vote. Therefore, a sec ...

. Sargsyan came in seventh place, receiving 0.21% of the vote. However, Sargsyan was a member of Parliament from 2003 to 2007. The party did not gain representation in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

following the 2007 parliamentary election as it failed to pass the 5% minimum threshold for parliamentary representation, gaining just 0.27% of the popular vote. The party participated in the

2012 Armenian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 6 May 2012. President Serzh Sargsyan's ruling Republican Party gained more majority of the parliament seats. Armenia's wealthiest man Gagik Tsarukyan's Prosperous Armenia came second with about one ...

s, gaining only 0.37% of the vote. The party endorsed

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan ( hy, Սերժ Ազատի Սարգսյան, ; born 30 June 1954)Of ...

for the 2013 presidential election. The party decided not to participate in the 2018 parliamentary election. The party confirmed that it would participate in the

2021 Armenian parliamentary election Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 20 June 2021. The elections had initially been scheduled for 9 December 2023, but were called earlier due to a political crisis following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War and an alleged attempted ...

s. Four members of the

Social Democrat Hunchakian Party The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) ( hy, Սոցիալ Դեմոկրատ Հնչակյան Կուսակցություն; ՍԴՀԿ, translit=Sots’ial Demokrat Hnch’akyan Kusakts’ut’yun), is the oldest continuously-operating Armenian ...

were nominated to run under the Democratic Party of Armenia's electoral list. Following the election, the party won just 0.39% of the popular vote, failing to win any seats in the National Assembly. The Democratic Party of Armenia does not have political representation in the National Assembly and currently acts as an

extra-parliamentary An extra-parliamentary opposition is a political movement opposed to a ruling government or political party that chooses not to engage in elections. Many social movements could be categorized as an extra-parliamentary opposition. Europe The Ger ...

force.

Activities

In June 2019, representatives of the Democratic Party of Armenia held a meeting with President

Armen Sargsyan Armen Vardani Sarkissian ( hy, Արմեն Վարդանի Սարգսյան; also written as Sarksyan and Sargsyan) (born 23 June 1952) is an Armenian politician, physicist and computer scientist who served as the 4th president of Armenia from 9 A ...

and discussed domestic and foreign policy issues. In November 2020, Aram Sargsyan along with the leaders of the

Armenian Constructive Party The Armenian Constructive Party, sometimes known as the Armenian Construction Party ( hy, Հայկական կառուցողական կուսակցություն, translit=Haykakan karruts’voghakan kusakts’ut’yun) is a Liberalism, liberal Lis ...

and the

Citizen's Decision Citizen’s Decision ( hy, Քաղաքացու որոշում, translit=K՛aghak՛atsu voroshum, abbreviated hy, link=n, label=none, ՔՈ, translit=K՛O, lit=Your), also known as the Citizen’s Decision Social-Democratic Party, is an Armenian soc ...

Party met with President Armen Sargsyan to discuss the political situation in Armenia and the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbaij ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Party of Armenia 1991 establishments in Armenia Democratic socialist parties in Asia Democratic socialist parties in Europe Political parties established in 1991 Political parties in Armenia Socialist parties in Armenia

History

Activities

See also

References

External links