Heritage ( hy, Ժառանգություն, translit=Zhaṙangut’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 ''Ox ...

national liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

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 ...

. It was founded in 2002 by

Raffi Hovannisian Raffi K. Richardi Hovannisian ( hy, Րաֆֆի Կ. Ռիչարդի Հովհաննիսյան; hyw, Րաֆֆի Կ. Ռիչարդի Յովհաննէսեան; born 20 November 1959) is an Armenian politician, the first Foreign Minister of Armenia and t ...

, independent Armenia's first

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Ideology

Liberal democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into diff ...

is the party's principle ideology. ;Economy *The party has stated its support for

Economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

. *Other domestic policy goals include legal reforms, the development of civil society and the economic development of Armenia. Heritage has stated that sustaining the competitiveness of the market will help strengthen the Armenian economy. *The party also believes that reducing poverty and building good social services should be prioritized. By taking these measures, Heritage has the objective to reduce emigration from Armenia and stop the “brain drain” from the country. *The party supports the establishment of a

Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTA) are three free trade areas established between the European Union, and Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine respectively. The DCFTAs are part of each country's EU Association Agreement. They allow Geor ...

between Armenia and the EU. ;Foreign Affairs *The party's foreign policy can be characterized as balanced, but also as pro-Western. The Heritage party underlines maintaining and developing good relations with 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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, but sees

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...

and cooperation as the key to progress. European integration is not a goal on its own, but rather a tool for improved well-being, prosperity and security. With Turkey, Heritage advocates an open and honest dialogue. *The party not only advocates for the

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

of Armenia with Europe but also the eventual accession of Armenia into 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 ...

. Heritage firmly believes that for centuries Armenia has been one of the constituents of European civilization, regardless of the geographical boundaries drawn for

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The party believes that Armenia must adhere to Pan-European values and that Armenia can contribute to the enrichment of Europe's cultural heritage. *Some party members have advocated their support for the withdrawal of Armenia from the

Collective Security Treaty Organization The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics ...

. *The party supports recognition of the

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a list of states with limited recognition, breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan ...

as an independent state (the party has several times unsuccessfully proposed bills in parliament that would formally recognize Artsakh by the Republic of Armenia). *Continued cooperation with both

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

member states.

Electoral record

The party emerged as the fifth largest party in the

National Assembly of Armenia The National Assembly of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Ազգային ժողով, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also infor ...

after its debut in the 2007 Armenian parliamentary elections. It won 6% of the popular vote and obtained 7 seats. Prior to the 2012 parliamentary election, some Free Democrats party members decided to run under the Heritage list. Following the election, Heritage won 5 seats with 86,998 votes, becoming the smallest faction within the National Assembly, with

Zaruhi Postanjyan Zaruhi Postanjyan ( hy, Զարուհի Փոստանջյան; born January 16, 1972, Yerevan) is an Armenian Member of Parliament since 2007, a public activist and a member of Heritage board. She was the head of "Heritage" faction of National Asse ...

as its leader. Heritage participated in the 2017 Armenian parliamentary election as part of the ORO Alliance, however the alliance gained just 2.07% of the popular vote, winning no seats. The party decided not to participate in the 2018 Armenian parliamentary election or the 2021 Armenian parliamentary election. 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.

National Assembly

Presidential elections

Local elections

The party participated in the

2013 Yerevan City Council election Yerevan City Council election was held on May 5, 2013. The Republican Party of Armenia won 56% of the total vote, Prosperous Armenia had 23%, while Barev Yerevan won over 8%. The opposition parties and the local observers denounced the elections ...

s as part of the Barev Yerevan alliance. Barev Yerevan consisted mostly of Heritage party members, in addition to a few members from the

Democratic Way Party The Democratic Way Party ( hy, Ժողովրդավարական ուղի կուսակցություն, translit=Zhoghovrdavarakan ughi kusakts’ut’yun), also known as the People's Way party, is a political party in Armenia. It is led by Manuel G ...

, the Democratic Homeland Party, and the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. The alliance came in third place, winning 8.48% of the vote and gaining 6 seats in the

Yerevan City Council The Yerevan City Council () is the lawmaking body of the city of Yerevan, the capital and largest city of Armenia. It has 65 members elected by Party-list proportional representation system, headed by the Mayor of Yerevan. The Council serves as a ...

. The party participated in the 2018 Yerevan City Council elections, receiving just 0.75% of the popular vote, failing to win any seats in the Yerevan City Council.

Acitivities

On 25 March 2021, Raffi Hovannisian met with the President of Armenia Armen Sarksyan to discuss the political situation in the country. On 1 April 2021, Heritage signed a joint declaration with four 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 15 April 2021, the party signed a joint statement with eight other political parties calling on the President of Armenia to ensure

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 ...

and the Constitution of Armenia is upheld in the country during the 2020–2021 Armenian protests.

References

External links

Official website
{{European People's Party Political parties established in 2002 2002 establishments in Armenia Political parties in Armenia Armenian nationalism European People's Party Member parties of the European People's Party Nationalist parties in Armenia Pro-European political parties in Armenia Liberal parties in Armenia