The Sovereign Armenia Party (), also known as the Independent Armenia Party, is an

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

History

The party was established in April 2021 and currently acts as an

extra-parliamentary An extra-parliamentary opposition, also referred to as simply extra-parliamentary or extraparliamentary, is a political movement opposed to a ruling government or political party that chooses not to engage in elections. Many social movements could ...

force. Its co-founder and leader is Davit Sanasaryan. Davit Sanasaryan was the former head of Armenia's state anti-corruption agency, however, Sanasaryan resigned from his position as a result of a criminal case against him for corruption allegations. He was also a former member of Prime Minister

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan (born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician who is serving as the 16th and current Prime Minister of Armenia, prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...

's, Civil Contract party, and the

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

party before that. The party is skeptical of the

Homeland Salvation Movement The Homeland Salvation Movement () was an Armenian political alliance, consisting of several opposition political parties, led by Vazgen Manukyan. History The alliance was established on 3 December 2020 from the dissatisfaction of the Governme ...

political alliance. During an interview, Davit Sanasaryan stated that most of the leaders of that alliance should be imprisoned for corruption. The party announced its intentions to participate in the

2021 Armenian parliamentary election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

s. Following the election, the party won just 0.31% of the popular vote, failing to win any representation 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 repr ...

Ideology

The party opposes Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's policies and believes that Turkey must be held accountable for its role in the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

. The party suggests launching an investigation on the war and the role of the current authorities in Armenia's defeat. The party also supports free elections, combating criminal regimes, developing a strong

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mark ...

, increasing the population, strengthening the military, and supporting Artsakh's independence and security. In addition, the party believes that it was a mistake for the

Government of Armenia The Government of the Republic of Armenia () or the executive branch of the Armenian government is an executive council of government ministers in Armenia. It is one of the three main governmental branches of Armenia and is headed by the Pr ...

to reject the signing of an

Association Agreement A European Union Association Agreement or simply Association Agreement (AA) is a treaty between the European Union (EU, or its predecessors), its Member States and a non-EU country or bloc of countries that governs bilateral relations. Areas fre ...

with the EU in 2013. The party believes that it was unwise of Armenia to become solely dependent on

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

for its security. Davit Sanasaryan has stated that the government should have used the momentum of the

2018 Armenian revolution The 2018 Armenian Revolution, most commonly known in Armenia as #MerzhirSerzhin (, meaning "#RejectSerzh"), was a series of anti-government protests in Armenia from April to May 2018 staged by various political and civil groups led by a member ...

to make a shift in Armenia's foreign policy. The party believes that Armenia should establish mutually beneficial relations with both Russia and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as well as, building effective partnerships with other countries. In April 2023, Sanasaryan stated that

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

should replace Russia as Armenia's strategic ally.

Activities

On 1 April 2021, the Sovereign Armenia Party signed a joint declaration with 4 other political parties calling on the

to ensure free and fair upcoming elections, following the on-going

political unrest Politics () 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 status or resources. The branch of social science that studies politi ...

in Armenia. On 14 April 2021, Davit Sanasaryan met with the President of Armenia

Armen Sargsyan Armen Sargsyan (Russian: Армен Нагапетович Саркисян; Armenian: Արմեն Նահապետի Սարգսյան; 20 September 1978 or 1979 – 3 February 2025) was an Armenian-born Russian gangster and businessman that was ...

to discuss the ongoing political situation in the country. On 7 May 2021, party members met with representatives of the Generation of Independence Party, political issues and potential cooperation was discussed. On 3 August 2021, the Sovereign Armenia Party, the

European Party of Armenia The European Party of Armenia (EPA) () is a Pro-Europeanism, pro-European political party in Armenia. It was founded on 6 November 2018 by Tigran Khzmalyan. The party supports Armenia's Accession of Armenia to the European Union, accession process ...

and the Conservative Party released a joint statement calling for the Armenian government to demand the

CSTO The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, ) is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The Collective Security Treaty ha ...

military alliance to cease selling weapons to Azerbaijan and Turkey. The statement also called for the withdrawal of Armenia from the CSTO, should the alliance ignore Armenia's security concerns.

Electoral record

Parliamentary elections

References

External links

Sovereign Armenia Party
on Facebook {{Armenian political parties Political parties established in 2021 Political parties in Armenia 2021 establishments in Armenia Pro-European political parties in Armenia