One Armenia Party ( hy, Մեկ Հայաստան կուսակցություն, translit=Mek Hayastan kusakts’ut’yun) is 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 ...

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 founded on 19 February 2019 by Arthur Ghazinian.

History

The founding congress of the One Armenia Party was held on 19 February 2019, in Yerevan. Arthur Ghazinian, who also heads Yerevan State University's Center of European Studies, was elected by a majority of party members as Chairman. The party released its charter and manifesto as well as completed its registration with the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

. At a briefing with reporters, Artur Ghazinyan stated that this new party is a centrist political force and will help avoid a possible collision of opposite political poles in Armenia. The party has been a critic of Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, with Ghazinian stating that the Prime Minister has already lost his legitimacy, has fully exhausted himself and will soon lose power. The party has also criticized Pashinyan's government of poorly handling foreign affairs and the on-going Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The party confirmed that it would nominate a single candidate 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 ...

as part of the

Armenia Alliance Armenia Alliance ( hy, Հայաստան դաշինք, Hayastan dashink’, HD) is an Armenian political alliance. It was founded in 2021 and is currently led by former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan. History During the 2020–2021 Armenian ...

. Following the election, the Armenia Alliance gained 21% of the popular vote and won 29 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 repre ...

, with the One Armenia Party winning one of those seats. On 4 July 2022, Arthur Ghazinian announced that he was renouncing his seat, leaving the party without any representation in the National Assembly. 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 German ...

force.

Ideology

The party believes in developing Armenia's civil society, strengthening

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 creating a powerful sovereign state with a strong national identity and institutions. The party has also voiced strong opposition to ideological polarization,

populism Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

, radicalism and extremism. Instead, the party encourages ideological restraint and establishing a collaborative and consensual political culture in Armenia. In terms of foreign policy, the party supports a balanced relationship with both

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 ...

and 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 ...

. The party also supports international recognition of Artsakh as well as protecting Armenia's cultural heritage and the values of the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

Activities

In June 2019, party members met with the President of Armenia,

Armen Sarkissian 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 ...

. Party leader Ghazinian presented the ideology of the political party and directions of its activities. On 9 November 2020, the party signed a joint declaration with the other member parties of the

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 ...

calling on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign during 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 ...

Electoral record

Parliamentary elections

References

External links

One Armenia Party
Political parties established in 2019 2019 establishments in Armenia Political parties in Armenia Centrist parties in Europe {{Armenia-party-stub