New Country (; ''Nor Yerkir'') was a

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 created by Artashes Tumanyan, Chief of staff to former President

Robert Kocharyan Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( hy, Ռոբերտ Սեդրակի Քոչարյան ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from ...

History

Artashes Tumanyan participated in the

2003 Armenian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 25 May 2003. There were 56 constituency seats and 75 elected on a national basis using proportional representation. They saw the Republican Party of Armenia emerge as the largest party, with 33 of t ...

under the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

's (ARF) proportional list. Tumanyan later established the New Country party and there was speculation that New Country could form a political alliance with the ARF. However, Robert Kocharyan was opposed to any cooperation between the two parties. The party had intentions to participate in future elections and had scheduled its founding congress for 18 March 2006. However, on 16 March 2006, Tumanyan announced that he no longer would be an active member of the newly established party. As such, the party dissolved and had not participated in any elections. Despite the set back, Robert Poladyan, a member of New Country was tasked with continuing the objectives of the party as an organization under the same name, instead of a political party.

Ideology

In February 2006, the party published a lengthy

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

in three of

's major newspapers. The party pledged to strive for the country's

democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a ful ...

and

economic liberalization Economic liberalization (or economic liberalisation) is the lessening of government regulations and restrictions in an economy in exchange for greater participation by private entities. In politics, the doctrine is associated with classical liber ...

. The party had also set the ambitious goal of attaining Armenia's membership and accession to 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 ...

by 2015. Tumanyan had stated that the "European Union is a unique institution, which promotes the identity and diversity of nations," while promoting Armenia's

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 ...

during a press interview. The party also supported the strengthening of

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 ...

, freedoms and rights of every citizen, and a free media.

References

2006 establishments in Armenia Political parties established in 2006 Political parties in Armenia Pro-European political parties in Armenia Liberal parties in Armenia {{Armenia-party-stub

History

Ideology

See also

References