The My Step Alliance ( hy, Իմ Քայլը դաշինք, Im Kaylə Dashink', IKD) was a

political alliance A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies. International terms Equivalent terms are used differ ...

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 ...

formed by the Civil Contract party, the

Mission Party The Mission Party ( hy, Առաքելություն կուսակցություն, translit=Arrak’elut’yun kusakts’ut’yun) was an Armenian political party founded on 2 February 2013. In August 2021, the party announced its decision to merge ...

and various

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

representatives of civil society. It was formed in August 2018, before the

2018 Yerevan City Council election Yerevan City Council elections were held on 23 September 2018. The snap election was trigged after the resignation of former mayor Taron Margaryan amid the aftermath of the 2018 Armenian Velvet Revolution. Well-known comedian and actor Hayk Maruty ...

. The leader of the alliance was the

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

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 ...

. Despite its dissolution as a national party, the My Step Alliance still operates 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 ...

History

On 31 March, at the beginning 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 a group of supporters began a march from

Gyumri Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city w ...

, Armenia's second largest city. The campaign, named "My Step", was declared with the intention to prevent

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

's election as prime minister on 17 April. On 23 September 2018, the alliance participated in the

with

Hayk Marutyan Hayk Hrachyayi Marutyan ( hy, Հայկ Հրաչյայի Մարության; born December 18, 1976) is an Armenian actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer and politician. He was the mayor of Yerevan from October 2018 to December 2021. Marutyan ro ...

as a candidate for

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

and won 57 seats out of 65 in the

. The alliance ran in the

2018 Armenian parliamentary election Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 9 December 2018, as none of the parties in the National Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for Prime Minister in the two-week period following the resignation of incum ...

. They won 88 of 132 seats, gaining a ruling majority 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 ...

. The alliance dissolved in May 2021, following an announcement that Civil Contract 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 independently.

Ideology

The coalition was perceived as maintaining a

big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...

ideology rather than supporting any one particular political position. The coalition's main focus was on anti-corruption efforts while developing Armenia's civil society and

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 promoting the economic development of the country. However, Nikol Pashinyan has been described as a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

politician with a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

outlook. In terms of foreign policy, before coming to power, Pashinyan was a skeptic of Russia. However, following his victory, Pashinyan changed his official opinion and opted to maintain strong relations between Armenia and

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 ...

. Despite this, Pashinyan also supported the development of bilateral 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 ...

Composition

The alliance was composed of the following parties, as well as some independents.

Electoral record

Parliamentary elections

Local elections

Yerevan City Council elections

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=December 2018 2018 establishments in Armenia Centrist parties in Europe Political parties established in 2018 Neoliberal parties Defunct political party alliances in Armenia Liberal parties in Armenia