The For the Republic Party, also known as the Alliance for Defenders of Democracy ( hy, Հանրապետություն կուսակցության համար, translit=Hanrapetut’yun kusakts’ut’yan hamar) is an

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 ...

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 ...

History

The party was founded on 20 September 2020, during a party congress held in Yerevan. The party 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. Arman Babajanyan, who was formerly a

Bright Armenia Bright Armenia ( hy, Լուսավոր Հայաստան, translit=Lusavor Hayastan) is a classical liberal political party in Armenia founded on 12 December 2015. History In 2017, Bright Armenia launched an educational program aimed at advancing ...

MP and then an independent MP 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 ...

, was nominated as party leader. Following the

2020–2021 Armenian protests The 2020−2021 Armenian protests (also known as the March of Dignity; hy, Արժանապատվության երթ, translit=Arzhanapatvut'yan yert') were a series of protests that began following the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement on 10 ...

, the party supported the decision of Prime Minister

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan ( hy, Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան, ; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in 1 ...

to call snap elections. The party believes in the ideals of the

2018 Armenian revolution The 2018 Armenian Revolution, most commonly known in Armenia as #MerzhirSerzhin ( hy, ՄերժիրՍերժին, meaning "#RejectSerzh"), was a series of anti-government protests in Armenia from April to May 2018 staged by various political and ...

, and supports fresh elections in order to accomplish the goals of the revolution and further strengthen

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

in Armenia. In May 2021, the party formed an electoral alliance with the

Christian-Democratic Rebirth Party The Christian-Democratic Rebirth Party ( hy, Հայաստանի Քրիստոնեա Դեմոկրատական Շարժում, translit=''Hayastani K’ristonea Demokratakan Sharzhum''), also known as the Christian Democratic Movement of Armenia, is ...

. The alliance, known as the Shirinyan-Babajanyan Alliance of Democrats, announced its intentions to 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 with Arman Babajanyan as its leader. Following the election, the alliance received 1.50% of the popular vote, failing to win any seats in the National Assembly.

Ideology

The party opposes authoritarianism, while supporting freedom of press,

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

, the

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...

, and encourages the economic development of Armenia. The party also believes in the right to self-determination for Artsakh and was skeptical of the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement is an armistice agreement that ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. It was signed on 9November by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Pre ...

. In regards to foreign affairs, the party believes that Armenia should pursue closer relations with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Arman Babajanyan has stated, "Relations with the European Union and the United States provide us with a unique opportunity not only to integrate into world politics but also, with the full support of those centers, to advance our internal reform agenda in democratic institutions, the judiciary, civil society, the economy and other areas."

Activities

On 27 November 2020, leaders of the party met with the Ambassador of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to Armenia, Niko Schemmers. The meeting touched upon the necessary steps to overcome the internal political crisis in the country. On 23 February 2021, a journalist was attacked during a

Homeland Salvation Movement The Homeland Salvation Movement ( hy, Հայրենիքի փրկության շարժում, translit=Hayrenik’i p’rkut’yan sharzhum) was an Armenian political alliance, consisting of several opposition political parties, led by Vazgen Man ...

rally in Yerevan. The For the Republic party condemned the attack and stated that freedom of speech must be respected. On 1 April 2021, the For the Republic Party signed a joint declaration with 4 other political parties calling on the

Government of Armenia A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, Executive (government), e ...

to ensure free and fair upcoming elections, following the on-going

political unrest Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

in Armenia. On 5 May 2021, the party organized a meeting with the

Generation of Independence Party The Generation of Independence Party ( hy, Անկախության Սերունդ կուսակցություն) is an Armenian political party in Artsakh. History The Generation of Independence Party was established on 11 August 2018. Its founde ...

, the parties discussed various issues facing the country. On 7 April 2022, members of the party met with the EU Delegation in Armenia head Andrea Wiktorin. The sides discussed challenges in Armenia and regional issues.

Leadership

The party is governed by a Board of Directors, key members include: *Arman Babajanyan *Arthur Manukyan *Ruben Mehrabyan *Sargis Grigoryan

Electoral record

Parliamentary elections

References

External links

For the Republic Party
on Facebook {{Armenian political parties Political parties established in 2020 Political parties in Armenia Liberal parties in Armenia Pro-European political parties in Armenia