The Way Out Alliance ( hy, «Ելք» դաշինք, ԵԼՔ; ''YELK Dashink, YELQ'') or Yelk Alliance or simply Yelk or Way Out was 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 ...

political alliance of three political parties in

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 ' ...

: Civil Contract,

Bright Armenia Bright Armenia ( hy, Լուսավոր Հայաստան, translit=Lusavor Hayastan) is a classical liberal political party in Armenia founded on 12 December 2015. History In 2017, Bright Armenia launched an educational program aimed at advancing ...

and the

Hanrapetutyun Party The Hanrapetutyun Party ( hy, Հանրապետություն կուսակցություն, lit=Republic Party) is a pro-European political party in Armenia. The party was founded by ex-members from the Republican Party of Armenia and members of ...

. It was formed on 12 December 2016, before 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 ...

. Its leaders were Edmon Marukyan (leader of Bright Armenia),

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 ...

(leader of Civil Contract), and

Aram Sargsyan Aram Zaveni Sargsyan ( hy, Արամ Զավենի Սարգսյան; 2 January 1961) is an Armenian political figure. He was Prime Minister of Armenia from 3 November 1999 to 2 May 2000. He is the younger brother of Vazgen Sargsyan. In 2001, he fou ...

(leader of Hanrapetutyun and former

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 ...

). The alliance was dissolved on 12 September 2018 after its constituent parties agreed to participate in the 2018 parliamentary elections separately.

History

On 2 April 2017, the alliance participated in the

with Edmon Marukyan as leader of the alliance and won 9 seats out of 105 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 ...

. Prior to the election, the

Union for National Self-Determination Union for National Self-Determination ( hy, Ազգային ինքնորոշում միավորում; ''Azgayin ink’noroshum miavorum'') is an Armenian political party. It was founded in 1987 by Paruyr Hayrikyan, a Soviet dissident seeking indep ...

, another liberal Pro-European party, also wished to join the Way Out Alliance, however their request was never responded too. After parliamentary elections, the alliance participated in the 2017 Yerevan City Council election. The alliance's candidate for

Mayor of Yerevan The Mayor of Yerevan () is head of the executive branch of Yerevan's government. The mayor is elected by the Yerevan City Council. Recent city council elections took place in 2018, 2017 and 2013. List of mayors References External links ...

was

. However, the alliance won only 14 seats out of 65 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 ...

and Nikol Pashinyan gave up his mandate of City Council and continued his work in the National Assembly as an MP. The alliance did not participate in 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 Marut ...

and the

formed another alliance -

Bright Alliance The Bright Alliance ( hy, «Լույս» դաշինք, ԼՈՒՅՍ; ''LUYS Dashink, LUYS'') was a liberal political alliance of two political parties in Armenia: the Bright Armenia party and Republic party. It was formed on 28 August 2018, before ...

. Meanwhile, Civil Contract formed the

My Step Alliance The My Step Alliance ( hy, Իմ Քայլը դաշինք, Im Kaylə Dashink', IKD) was a political alliance in Armenia formed by the Civil Contract party, the Mission Party and various independent representatives of civil society. It was formed i ...

with the Mission Party. The My Step Alliance won the municipal elections and their candidate

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 ...

was appointed as the Mayor of Yerevan. Bright Alliance came in third place, winning 3 seats out of 65 in the Yerevan City Council.

Ideology

The Way Out Alliance's ideology was based on

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

. The three parties, especially Bright Armenia and Hanrapetutyun, are considerably pro-European and support Armenia's European integration. In terms of

foreign relations of Armenia Since its independence, Armenia has maintained a policy of complementarism by trying to have positive and friendly relations with Iran, Russia, and Western world, the West, including the United States and the European Union. It has full members ...

, the alliance stated that Armenia's decision to join the

Eurasian Economic Union The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU)EAEU is the acronym used on thorganisation's website However, many media outlets use the acronym EEU. is an economic union of some post-Soviet states located in Eurasia. The Treaty on the Eurasian Econo ...

was wrong and had a negative impact on the country. The alliance proposed to renegotiate 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 de ...

on signing an

Association Agreement A European Union Association Agreement or simply Association Agreement (AA) is a treaty between the European Union (EU), its Member States and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. Areas frequently covered by su ...

along with a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.Foreign Policy Discourse

EVN Report EVN Report is a non-profit online news site covering Armenian news for an English-speaking audience. It is based in Yerevan, from which it gets its namesake (EVN is the IATA airport code for Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport). History The ...

, 16 March 2017

Composition

Electoral record

Parliamentary elections

Local elections

Yerevan City Council elections

References

{{Armenian Political Parties 2016 establishments in Armenia Defunct political party alliances in Armenia Political parties established in 2016 Political parties disestablished in 2018 Pro-European political parties in Armenia Liberal parties in Armenia