Freedom Party ( hy, Ազատություն կուսակցություն, translit=Azatut’yun kusakts’ut’yun) 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 ' ...

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 ideological or p ...

. It was founded on 29 May 1997 and is currently led by former Prime Minister of Armenia

Hrant Bagratyan Hrant Ararati Bagratyan ( hy, Հրանտ Արարատի Բագրատյան; born 18 October 1958) is an Armenian politician. He was the Prime Minister of Armenia from 2 February 1993 until 4 November 1996, and a former member of the Pan-Armenia ...

History

The Freedom Party was founded in May 1997 by Hrant Bagratyan, who served as

Prime Minister of Armenia The prime minister of Armenia is the head of government and most senior minister within the Armenian government, and is required by the constitution to "determine the main directions of policy of the Government, manage the activities of the Gov ...

between 1993 and 1996. Bagratyan was a member of the

Armenian National Congress The Armenian National Congress ( hy, italic=yes, Հայ Ազգային Կոնգրես, translit=Hay Azgayin Kongres) is an Armenian political party led by former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and formed in 2008. Its direct predecessor was the P ...

. 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 ...

, winning 1.02% of the 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 on ...

under the

bloc and Bagratyan was elected as the only MP from his party. On 24 December 2012, Hrant Bagratyan was nominated to participate in the 2013 Armenian presidential election during a party congress held in Yerevan. Following the presidential election, Bagratyan came in third place, winning 2.15% of the vote. Prior to the

2017 Armenian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 2 April 2017. They were the first elections after a constitutional referendum in 2015 that approved reforms for the country to become a parliamentary republic. The result was a victory for the rul ...

, the party announced its intentions to participate in the elections under the Free Democrats party. The joint list was headed by the leader of the Free Democrats party, Khachatur Kokobelyan, while the candidate for the post of Prime Minister was Hrant Bagratyan. Following the election, the Free Democrats won 0.94% of the vote, failing to win any seats. The party 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 independently. Following the election, the party won just 0.14% of the popular vote, failing to win any seats 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 rep ...

. Currently, the party 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.

Ideology

The party describes its principle ideology as modern liberalism and is in favour of a free-market economy. The party supports independence for Artsakh, increasing the military budget, and improving Armenia's security issues. The party also believes in maintaining strong ties with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, while developing closer ties with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and China.

Electoral record

Parliamentary elections

References

External links